


Scarlet

by xLexia



Category: One Piece
Genre: Adventure, Belonging, F/M, Falling In Love, Family, Family Feels, Freedom, Friendship/Love, Love, Major Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, Personal Growth, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 15:23:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3697292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xLexia/pseuds/xLexia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marine Captain Akane finally finishes the mission she was given over two months ago, but is not given a break when she runs into the Whitebeard Pirates the very next morning in the village center. One punch to a gut later, and Akane finds herself facing off against the Second Division Commander for her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was a warm evening just like any other on the exotic island she was stationed to. She had been assigned to this island for a case about an underground drug market base about two months ago and she was finally close to shutting down the operation, although truth be told, she was more concerned with finishing the case and getting off the island more than worrying about low lifers distributing illegal substances.

 

Her long, red hair swayed from side to side, dancing across the Marine insignia on the back of her uniform. Her crew of soldiers was waiting on the beach by their ship, one by one they began to notice her walking towards them, their bored faces slowly filling with excitement.

 

"Captain! Are we finally going to take action? We've been itching to kick ass for weeks now!" A subordinate called out to her, his voice laced with suspense.

 

"Yeah, I finally filled in the paperwork for the case and made a call to the higher-ups this morning, they gave us the go." She answered cooly. At first glance one wouldn't assume she was a captain of this particular ship and crew since out of the entire group, she was one of the younger members. However, the redhead had displayed her capabilities and talents well. She knew she was strong, and she had confidence only in her strength that she had spent years building. To be quite honest, she didn't even need her crew for this mission. She could have taken on this case by herself, but alas, that wasn't allowed, apparently not part of the protocol and too dangerous. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!" She called out, lifting their morale for the anticipated battle.

 

Roars of excitement after weeks of secrecy and camping out surged through her crew, "You heard her! Follow Captain!"

 

With battle soon approaching, she tied her hair in a high pony tail to keep the hair out of her face during combat. "Move out!" She ordered.

 

"Yes ma'am!"

 

A small smile danced on her lips. Although she never cared to have a crew... she couldn't deny that their loyalty and trust in her were endearing.

* * *

 

The sun had fallen and the moon was high in the sky as they arrived at the drug operations base. Her crew was silently following behind her as she approached the entrance. She had to give the criminals credit for the placement. It was well hidden and took her about a month to find when she had first arrived on the island. After the discovery, it was merely observing and gathering information until she was given the orders to shut it down.

 

Without hesitation, she kicked open the door with far too much force than to be expected from her size. A few lackeys whipped around and cocked their guns at her and her subordinates the moment they realized what was going on. Her crew was just as quick to react and lifted their guns as well, both sides filled with immense tension, but no one firing.

 

"Omega Crew, you are under arrest for the possession, distribution, and selling of illegal substances among other crimes. I suggest you surrender and come quietly." One of the pirates grunted and readied to shoot her, but she didn't flinch. Before he could do anything, one of her own men had shot the offender and he fell to the ground in a cry of pain. A smirk graced her lips. When she had received her crew, she had taken it as her own responsibility to make sure each member hone in on their best skill and utilize it to its extent. Aside from helping each of them shine at their best skill, she ground the fundamentals of combat into them due to how Marine training focused predominately on firearms. Hey, if she was going to be stuck with a crew she might as well have a good one right? "Zayleck, I'm loving the reflexes, but we'd like to get as many of them as we can alive."

 

The man who had shot the pirate gave her a sheepish grin, "Sorry 'bout that ma'am."

 

The pirates in the room snarled and glared at them. One of them shouted, "Damn Marines! Kill every last one of them! Last thing we need is Captain on our asses about this!" After the outburst, many more yells of, "Murder them! Fuckin' slaughter them!" resonated from their side of the room.

 

She closed her eyes and sighed, she had no interest in the low rank scum of the operation. If their captain wasn't here then she had no reason to waste time here either. "Guys, clean things up here for me. Arrest as many as you can, kill if you need to." Those were all the orders her subordinates needed to hear before engaging in combat with the pirates. She didn't need to waste her energy here. The low-ranked pirates proved no match for her crew, and were all placed in handcuffs before they knew it.

 

As the sounds of yelling and swords clashing quieted down from both sides, she finally moved from her place at the door frame. The pirates were in cuffs on the floor for a few minutes now, and it seemed that they had finally given up thrashing around with futile effort.

 

"Just wait till Captain gets here! He'll slaughter ya!" One of the pirates spat at her. The snide remark caught her attention. She walked over to the pirate and stood in front of him, her smaller body looming over him from where he was lying on the floor.

 

She lifted a booted leg and swiftly brought it down to the side of his head, digging it into his skull. The man cried out in agony as the sole of her foot ground into his cheek.

 

"Oh? Your captain? And where would this captain of yours be right now?" She prodded as she continued to rub the bottom of her shoe harshly into his head.

 

"L-like I'd tell you, you damn bitch! Who the fuck do you think you are huh?" Unfortunately for him, gasping for air and grunting in pain weren't exactly the most fear-striking of acts.

 

Her voice was blunt and harsh, "I think I'm the 'bitch' who will have all your asses thrown into Impel Down." With her foot still holding the man's head down, she twisted her torso to grab a sabre from one of her soldiers. She turned and squatted down, her free hand reaching out and grabbing a bunch of the pirate's hair and in turn lifting his head to bring the curve of the sword to his neck. "Now tell me where your captain is. You low-ranks are nothing you hear me? We can kill you whenever we want. You guys mean nothing. Nothing at all. Arresting you is mere mercy on our part, so if you tell me where your captain is, the guy we actually want, I'll grant you the privilege of living your pitiful life in a dingy prison cell instead of slowly severing your heard off, right now." Her voice was laced with malice. She didn't have time to deal with stupid lackeys. She would pull any cheap or intimidation tactics she needed to if it meant completing this mission and finally setting sail again.

 

The man yelped underneath her bloodthirsty gaze and sword, surrendering quickly. "H-he's on the north beach, waiting for new shipments to arrive..." He said, words barely above a terrified whisper.

 

She smirked. That was far faster than she had expected him to spill the truth. Now _that_ is how you intimidate and threaten someone, she thought amusingly. "Perfect." She dropped his head to the floor as she withdrew the sword from his neck. Her gaze directed towards her group of soldiers, "I'll need you to take these pirates to the east shoreline of the island. I had called another ship to take them to one of the Marine bases until the higher-ups decide what to do with them. Once all of them are handed over, you are also to guide the other soldiers to this base to investigate further into the case. I'll go find and kick their bosses ass. Stay out of it and just follow the orders I gave, understood?"

 

A "Yes ma'am!" called back in unison while her subordinates began their work, hauling the criminals up and dragging them out the door.

* * *

 

She had been swiftly running through the exotic forest, trying to reach the northern beach in time to catch the crew's captain. After a couple minutes of running, the trees started to sparse out and she was met with the silhouette of a large man awaiting a quickly approaching, unnamed ship. So she had made it just in time. She sported a wild grin as she swiftly charged the man from behind. What? Pirates always played unfair, why couldn't she?

 

He turned his head around only in time to see a fist connect with his jaw, blowing him into the shallow sea water. For a normal person the water wouldn't do much, but she was well aware that this pirate captain had a Devil Fruit ability. So with that one swift, powerful punch she had effectively knocked the man out and immobilized him if he were to regain consciousness. She looked up to see that the ship that was once approaching the shore had slowly begun turning its course and attempt a retreat. From the corner of her eye she saw a Marine vessel come into the shoreline's view and target the ship dead-on, firing numerous cannonballs into it. The men on board, presumably low-life drug dealers, started jumping their ship to escape as it would sink in no time. A futile effort. Really.

 

She pulled out a small transponder snail from her coat and dialed the captain of the other marine ship she had called to pick up the pirates.

" _Buru buru.. buru buru.. kachank!_ Captain Friole. What is it soldier?"

 

Her eyebrows twitched. She wasn't just a soldier, she was a captain too... "I finished things up with the big guy. I'm on the northern shoreline, where are  _you_?  _ _Soldier__?"

 

"I'm heading towards their base of operations. Your subordinate, commander Zayleck is guiding me,  _ _soldier__."

 

"I see. Well, would you call your crew and notify them to pick up the man that's lying unconscious in the water by the north shoreline? And oh, put him in some seastone cuffs. I'm counting on you to clean things up here since my job here is done. That'll be all  _ _soldier__." She hung up on the call with an irritated slam of the receiver. She had nothing more to say to the man. and she knew he would follow through with her requests, if only to make his part in the case seem notable.

 

She sighed, contented with her work. It had been two long months docked at the island. She liked it here, and the villagers were very kind to them, but three months on land was far too much for her. She loved being on the ocean far more. It was the only reason she had become a marine in the first place... She wanted to start anew and sail the seas with freedom... Becoming a marine was her best option for that. It wasn't like she could have just joined a pirate crew and became an outlaw when she was fifteen. Even though sailing the seas as a marine was a bit too regulated for her tastes, it had its perks too.

She turned on her heel and started walking towards the south side of the island, where the village was. She would tell the kind islanders the good news.

* * *

 

It was well into the early hours of the morning and the village celebration was still going strong. The case had been long cleaned up, and now only her and her crew remained on the island with the villagers. She smiled warmly at the sight of the villagers dancing, singing, and drinking- her crew joining in on the fun too. The pirates on the island hadn't really been interested in the villagers when they were here; they had simply used the island as a secret base. However, that didn't mean they hadn't raided the village of supplies when they ran out of stock. The poor villagers had suffered a lot for even months before she and her crew arrived.

 

She was at peace, observing the many happy people beaming with joy. She loved this island. She had called it home for the last three months, and their voyage tomorrow would be bittersweet despite her desire to leave.

 

The party dragged on with the same amount of energy and vigor as when it started. The girl sighed and pulled the tie out of her long red locks, letting them down and releasing the tension on the roots of her hair. Ouch. She cursed internally. She stood up and began to leave, seeking to get a little sleep before they embarked in the morning.

 

She turned to face her crew, getting their attention with a voice loud enough to be heard over the sounds of celebration, "Soldiers! We'll be setting sail in the morning! I don't care what you do, but you better be alert for tomorrow morning! I'll be retiring for the night, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow!" As she turned to walk away she heard a few wishes of a good night to her as well.

 

She supposed that when it came down to it, she actually enjoyed her crew's company.

* * *

 

She woke up in the hut one of the villagers had offered her the night before. Her head throbbed and her eyelids were heavy. She definitely didn't get enough sleep last night. Rolling out of bed and stumbling to get up, the girl trudged out of the one room hut and into the bright morning sun.

 

Something was off. She knew most of the villagers on the island would be sleeping now considering the celebrations last night, but it was far too quiet that even the wind seemed to be still. Her senses told her something wasn't right, so she started running towards the core of the village on nothing more than impulse.

 

Her heart nearly stopped when she recognized all too familiar faces from infamous wanted posters getting clearer as she approached. This couldn't have been happening. Her stomach felt like it was going to flip. She stopped running and decided that slowly approaching whilst being hidden was a better option with the revelation of who she was dealing with dawned on her. She saw two men talking to the grief-filled head chief of the village.

 

"We're not interested in hurting or attacking your village. We just want to restock our supplies yoi." One of the men spoke, holding up a lazy hand in a gesture of peace. She recognized him as Marco. Marco the Phoenix, or in other words, Whitebeard's right hand man. Cool sweat started to form on her brow.

 

"I'm terribly sorry, but our village is very low on supplies... We've been forced to accommodate a group of pirates who were using our island that had only been arrested yesterday. Even the Marines are still here, such as how recent it still is. We're still recovering from all of it."

 

__Idiot!__  She stopped breathing at this point. She concealed her presence as much as she could as her mind ran a mile a minute.

 

"Marines? They're still here?" The other man said with a lopsided grin. She knew his face too, it was Fire Fist Ace. Damn it! How did this happen to her? Two of the most wanted men had showed up with their subordinates some time when she was still sleeping. Couldn't she get a damn break? She just dealt with a two month long mission up until yesterday! Heck, her head was still throbbing with a hangover! She tried to calm her racing heart. The Whitebeard men weren't aware that she and her crew were on the island up until now. That meant that they must have docked on the opposite shoreline somewhere. This was good. She could get her men and escape without confrontation and just report the sighting to Headquarters. She was confident and strong, but not an idiot! She wouldn't willingly involve herself in battles she knew she couldn't win, and going against all those pirates was just suicide.

 

She could almost hear the village chief's sweat and wide eyes as he spoke, "Ah, but you shouldn't cause them trouble! You can look through our forests for beasts you can take as food but please do not disturb the marines I beg you! They are our saviours!" The man pleaded.

 

"I can assure you, we're never the ones to start fights." The Second Division Commander spoke again. She could already tell she didn't like him with how smug he sounded.

 

"Thanks for your kindness, we'll take what we need and get out of your hair as soon as we can yoi." She thought it would finally be her chance to get her men and high-tail it out of there, but her blood ran cold when he spoke again. "Now you, hiding behind that house all sneaky-like. Whaddya want."

 

No way, he sensed her? She could almost feel his gaze through the wall of the house. She steadied her breathing. No, she was _not_ a coward. She refused to run away now that he had noticed her.

 

She stepped out from behind the house, glare heavy, and balled up fists at her sides. Most would find her quite threatening, but her appearance only gave her a quirked eyebrow in return.

 

"Oh? Just a villager?" The First Commander prodded in a bored curiosity.

 

The village chief's eyes widened as he spotted her, "A-ah yes, don't pay her any mind, try to understand that we have been dealing with ruthless pirates for a very long time now..."

 

She realized that the chief was trying to protect her and she appreciated it, but it still kind of pissed her off how she was being brushed aside. She hadn't realized until then that she was still wearing only her under shirt and a pair of shorts a village girl had provided for her to sleep in. She silently thanked God above that she wasn't self-aware enough in the morning to have changed into her Navy uniform. She then saw another man approach her that was quite large in both senses and was not easy on the eyes to say the least.

 

"Zehahaha, a village girl? She's cute," he leaned down and she could smell his revolting breath on her, "How 'bout entertaining us a bit, love?" That was all that was needed to set her off. She fucking hated gross people like him.

 

Before either of the commanders could interject on the man's advances, the girl thrust a powerful punch into the man's gut, her fist sinking deep into his abdomen and knocking the air out of him. He fell to his knees, but his face wasn't the only one that was filled with surprise and shock.

 

"Just a village girl? Bullshit!" The man with the orange hat strode towards the scene and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, "Who're you huh?" Fiery eyes drove daggers into hers. Was he seriously mad at her? The creep had come onto her and he got what he deserved. She didn't see why Fire Fist would be so upset. She supposed that the part about him being extremely loyal and vengeful of his brethren wasn't just an assumption written down on the profile that she had read awhile back.

 

After all the commotion, the noise had died down to even quieter than before. No one made a move to speak, awaiting what she would do.

 

"Scum got what he deserved, that's all."

 

"Who the hell are you calling scum!"

 

Marco took a step toward them, "Oi Ace, she's just a village-"

 

"Captain!"

 

__Fuck__. No no no no. That didn't just happen. Her crew did not just rush onto the scene, and they did not just call her Captain, and they surely _did not_ just aim their weapons at the Whitebeard Pirates.

 

The man gripping her shirt turned his face back to her, "Captain huh? So you're the captain of the marines on this island? You're not much. Never would've guessed."

 

The condescending words turned her glare bloodthirsty. She hated it. She hated when people would look down on her like she wasn't worth the title she earned. "Let. Go."

 

"I don't think so. You just hurt one of Whitebeard's men, my subordinate to be exact. You know what that means right?"

 

"Get bent." She spat back.

 

He glared at her with murderous intent of the likes she's never seen. She knew she was screwed, so she might as well go down fighting right? She couldn't face all the pirates there at once, but if she was just against one... She felt like she might be able to hold her ground in a fight- at least long enough for her crew to escape.

 

"Get to the ship and leave, don't look back." She addressed her subordinates while still keeping her eyes on the man in front of her. She wasn't about to get innocent lives killed over some stupid quarrel.

 

"But Captain-"

 

"That is an _order_! Now go! I don't want your blood on my hands! Just report the issue to one of the higher-ups when you get the chance!" She shouted. They hesitated a bit, but then solemnly started to rush out of the scene, intending to follow their captain's orders like they always have.

 

"How noble of you." The man gripping her shirt- Fire Fist Ace, smirked down at her.

 

"That doesn't mean much coming from someone like _you_. Now, get. _off_. me!" She shouted as she launched a fist at his face. It connected. Hard.

 

He let go of her, probably from the shock, and was thrown a couple feet back from the force. "Haki?" He grunted, as he rubbed his cheek and got to his feet again. "Interesting. Packs a punch." He turned his head away from her, "Marco leave this one to me, get some supplies and we'll head out."

 

The subtle surprised look on the man he was addressing was washed away as he replied, "Roger that. Let's go guys. Sorry Chief, but it seems our crew always manages to get into trouble when we run into the Navy. I suggest you evacuate your village people though, yoi" The girl may pack a punch, but 'Fire Fist' Ace was not someone one could compete with for that title.

 

The village chief looked wearily at the blond pirate, but did as he was told. He resigned to the fact long ago that pirates were pirates and they would do whatever the hell they wanted, no matter what the aftermath was. He just hoped that the young girl who had freed his people would be okay.

* * *

 

Everyone else had evacuated the village almost an hour hours ago. She and Fire Fist Ace were still going at it, almost evenly matched. He was very strong, that much was obvious, but she herself was a skilled user of haki. Despite her ability advantage, she couldn't get the upper hand in the fight. Not only that, but there was a point where she felt like Fire Fist was just toying with her. She knew very well he had large scale attacks that could destroy entire ships, however he had resigned to a close combat battle with her. _Why?_ Did he find this kind of thing amusing? Was he just buying time as his crew got what they needed?

 

She was beginning to feel the overwhelming exhaustion weighing down on her limbs from the extensive use of haki. She was about to collapse at any moment, but she couldn't afford that fate. She still had seas to sail and the world to explore so she be damned if she died in a fight over something so stupid! Though as much as she was trying to convince herself to keep fighting, she could feel her body giving out underneath her.

 

With the last bit of her strength, she subdued the fire on his fist as it connected with her jaw. She was thrown back from the sheer physical force of the punch. Exhausted, she let the darkness cloud her vision and felt herself drifting into unconsciousness. Her last thought being she prayed that she would wake up okay. Hell she just hoped she would wake up.

* * *

Her eyes fluttered open to a place much different than where she remembered having blacked out. The ceiling above her was made of wood and she was lying on a bed, which were things that definitely were not there before. She closed her eyes and relaxed, listening to the ocean waves outside the small port window and felt them slowly rock the ship back and forth. She lay there, still and quiet until the grogginess of sleep began to leave her body.

It was only then that she shot up out of the bed to really take in where she was. She was on a boat, definitely a boat, but it wasn't her ship- she knew that much. What the hell happened after she lost? Her crew should be long gone by now, but they wouldn't have had enough time yet to report the situation... and she couldn't think of anyone else who would pick her up from the island other than the Navy. She looked down at her sprawled out limbs to see her injuries were bandaged and treated professionally. So an ally picked her up? She was also wearing clean clothes too. A button-down denim top, probably belonging to a man since it was a few sizes too big, along with a pair of capris.

 

She swung her still-too-sore legs over the side of the bed and saw that there were a pair of simple brown flip flops waiting for her to use.

 

As soon as she steadied herself and was about to start walking to the door, it opened to reveal a face she wasn't too excited to see.

 

"Oh, so you woke up, that's good. I brought you food, yoi." Marco said as he entered the room holding a bowl of what looked like some sort of stew.

 

Her knees began to shake, threatening to give out under her. So she was on the Whitebeard ship...? Why...? Were they going to kill her? But if that was the plan, they could have killed her when she was unconscious. They also treated her injuries so no, that didn't make sense. Then was she a hostage? What for? That didn't make sense either though, considering they gave her clean clothes and food to eat.

 

She began to back away from him, fear evident on her features. She was too weak to put up a fight right now so she had no choice but to escape from here. She stumbled backwards on her shaky legs, but before she could hit the ground she was caught by something.

 

"You're still hurt, you shouldn't try anything. You don't have to worry'oi, I won't hurt you." He half carried her, half dragged her back to the bed she had first woken up in and sat her back down on it. He turned around and picked up the bowl of stew he had placed on a dresser with amazingly fast reflexes when he went to catch her. He brought it to her bedside and waited for her to take it, however she kept her eyes on the floor in front of her, refusing to look at him.

 

"Eat."

 

"No."

 

"It's not poisoned."

 

"I don't care."

 

Irked, the man knelt down on one knee so he could look her in the face, "Eat, you have to. You've been out for two days now."

 

Her eyes widened, "T-two..." She felt sweat starting to form atop her brow. So she was out for that long, and they had been taking _care_ of her...? She didn't understand at all. "Am I some sort of hostage or something?"

 

"If you were a hostage you'd be tied up, don't you think yoi? Not that we'd need to tie you up anyway though.”"

 

That stopped her train of thoughts in its tracks. So she was right earlier... but that didn't answer any of her questions.

 

He sighed and looked at her, "We left you on the island and were about to leave, Pops wanted to know who roughed Ace up so we brought you back to the ship, you've been out for days now. That's all yoi."

 

He must have known what she was thinking because that cleared up most of her thoughts.  _ _Oh God__. Did Whitebeard want to kill her himself?

 

"Y'know, I think now would actually be a good time to see him. Everybody's out on the deck anyway'oi." He placed the bowl of stew down since she wasn't eating it, and began to grab her wrist to pull her up.

 

She yelped. Loudly. She wasn't the type to openly display such weak emotions, but she was desperate. The last thing she wanted was to face the man who could and was going to crush her like a bug. She swiped her hand out of the man's grip and pushed herself up against the other side of the bed, back flat against the wall.

 

He stared at her, a small frown on his relaxed face. He went to grab her again but she crawled out of his grasp to the other side of the bed. This little game went on for about a minute before Marco was fed up and lunged at her, grabbing her waist and throwing her over his shoulder. He started to walk out of the room all the while with the girl punching his back, admittedly pretty hard for someone so weakened. It seemed the girl still had enough strength in her to use a bit of haki.

 

"Stop! Please... I don't want to..." It started as a shout but died down to a whisper as she slowly felt the nauseating feeling of defeat.

 

"Sorry. Pops wanted to see you, so he's gonna see you'oi."

 

She felt his pace slow down to a complete stop. She raised her head to look around, seeing a couple of faces that looked familiar, and many that weren't, but what they all shared in common was that they all stopped what they were doing and put their full attention on her. The panic rose in her throat.

 

"Pops, she woke up awhile ago, you wanted to see her right?" Her stomach almost fell out of her throat when she heard those words from over her shoulder.

 

"Yes, place her down Marco." A bellowing voice from behind her said back in reply.

 

If she had ever wanted to to fall into a complete breakdown of tears and sobs in her life, it would be right now. Marco placed her on the floor, facing Whitebeard. This was it. Her life was over. She froze in fear and didn't dare to look up at the great Whitebeard's face. Instead of looking at the terrifyingly large man in front of her, she opted to looking around at the pirate crew. Out of the many, she spotted Ace who appeared to be bandaged from their fight giving her a hard look. Okay, so he was still entirely too pissed at her. She let her gaze fall to the floor and kept it there.

 

The entire deck was silent as Whitebeard assessed the small figure in front of him. She didn't dare move, feeling like she would be killed if she did.

 

"Young girl... what is your rank?"

 

What was her rank? So... he wasn't planning on killing her right away? She slowly lifted her gaze up towards him, her heart pounding against her ribs. Her lips trembled, yet his intimidating presence compelled her to answer him. "...I'm a Marine Captain... Sir." Her voice barely above a raspy whisper.

 

"How old are you, young girl?"

 

"I'm n-nineteen..."

 

"What is your name?" He stared intently at her, as if he had something calculating in his mind.

 

She hesitated to answer. Why did he care? Was this some sort of psychological torture he put hostages through before he killed them? Humanize them, then kill them in front of the entire crew? With her last bit of confidence which she thought was long gone, she answered.

 

"Sir, my name is... Akane."


	2. Dark Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To Akane and many of the crew member's surprise, Whitebeard chooses to spare her life for a reason he will not yet share. Meanwhile in headquarters, reports of Akane's hostage situation finally reaches the higher ranks of the Navy.

She tried to control her shaking as much as she could while she waited for what he would do. It seemed the entire crew was held in suspense as well. It felt like all the self-assurance she once held was quickly wilting away.

 

"Akane huh... Gurararara" His laugh bellowed and she could feel the vibrations seep into the area surrounding them. "When I first saw one of my sons roughed up, I thought I would need to step in myself. You've piqued my interest brat. Now tell me, do you have family?" He took a swig of something that was in a very large jar.

 

The question caught her off guard. Akane didn't really know how to react or what to make of the situation. If she continued the conversation, would she be spared if for just a little bit longer? "My mother's name was Elizabeth ... We were from the West Blue." She responded curtly. She wasn't too fond of picking at old scabs, but if it meant getting out of this alive... she was willing to talk about it.

 

"She has followed you to the New World?"

 

"Killed, actually. Bunch of pirates attacked our village when I was younger... she protected me." Her gaze lowered, as she remembered the day. Her hand absentmindedly drifted towards the gold chain around her neck. It was the only memento she had left of her mother. A golden chain with a heart pendent. The back of the jewelery had a symbol engraved in it, but she had never found out what the odd carving meant. Her mother told her she would tell her when she was older. Unfortunately, now she would never know. Regardless, it was still an important token to her.

 

"Your father?"

 

She frowned, "Don't know. Don't care." Akane really wished he would stop asking these questions because she _knew_ she had to answer them if she valued her life, and being so honest wasn't a hobby of hers.

 

He let out that odd laugh again at her juvenile response. Well, the girl was just a child after all. Something was different about the girl than the usual marines. Whitebeard already had a strong hunch about what it was but decided that it'd be much too soon to dwell on it. Nonetheless, it would be a shame to squash out such interesting potential developments to his crew. He contemplated the different courses of action he could take until he finally spoke, "We'll be arriving at the next island in three weeks. We'll decide what to do with you then."

 

The crowd observing the whole ordeal choked on their own breath, and Akane spotted a certain hot-headed pirate's jaw drop in shock.

 

"But Pops! She-"

 

"No 'but's, Ace." He then turned his head back to address her and the rest of his crew, "This young lass, Akane, will be traveling with us as a  _ _guest__  on the ship until we reach the next island. I expect you to treat her as you would any other guest, my sons."

 

__What?__  She really couldn't understand how he had arrived at that conclusion, but she was relieved by the verdict. With no immediate threat, she could now plan her escape out of their grasps. She mentally thanked the man in front of her for his mercy.

 

With the orders given to them, the gathering was brought to an end. The Whitebeard crew looked at each other with a bit of confusion, but began to disperse, returning to their usual duties. It really was like a nightmare turned miracle for Akane. She knew very well she could have just been crushed under the Strongest Man Alive's foot if he wished to do it. With the fear beginning to leave her, her shoulders slumped with the disappearing tension. Her body was still exhausted and injured from her fight with Fire Fist. She hadn't realized how much she exerted herself in their battle, but in her relaxed state she noticed how tired and hungry she was even after having slept for two days straight.

 

Whitebeard must have taken notice of this as well because he spoke up again, "Ace, take her to the galley. She needs to eat." Ace stood dumbfounded when he was told his orders, as did Akane.

 

Okay, maybe the old man  _ _did__  have it out for her. There was no other reasonable explanation as to why out of all the people on board he would tell Ace to guide her. The panic that was ebbing away just a few moments earlier rose up again in her throat. Damn it, why did she have to be so injured? She felt pathetic. She spent years training and getting stronger, and now in only a few short days she was reduced to having being carried around like a sack of potatoes! It was humiliating and her blood boiled. She knew she should have been thankful because she was given mercy, but she had an odd feeling that these three upcoming weeks would be the longest in her life. That's saying a lot, considering she was taken under Vice Admiral Garp's wing for advanced training the first year she was enlisted. She shuddered at the painful memories.

 

Ace controlled his emotions and let his features relax. He would follow Pops' orders, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy doing them. He looked over to the girl that was still sitting on the deck in front of Pops' chair, the tips of her scarlet hair lightly feathering over the wooden planks. He took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, and began to walk over to the 'guest'. His eyes darkened as he remembered their battle. She definitely wasn't anywhere near strong enough to destroy the Moby Dick, but she could probably reek some havoc once she was healed. What the hell was Pops thinking! He really wanted to know... People who attacked the Whitebeard pirates got what they deserved, so why was she spared?

 

As he reached where she was on the deck, his gaze lowered to meet hers.He took in the sight of her face which sported a large, purple bruise where he had punched her in the jaw during their fight, and her features were molded into a deep frown. The gray eyes that bore into his, the scarlet hair framing her face, the straight, slender nose, and her plump lips pulled into an angry pout... It all pissed him off even more. He must have unintentionally shown his irritation on his face because her defensive glare darkened, if that was possible. She seemed just as much unhappy of the set-up as he was, but she be damned if she spoke up about it. Without too much care, he bent down and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder like Marco did when he first brought her out on deck. With a small yelp from the girl on his shoulder, he turned around and began walking towards the galley below deck.

 

"Like a  _ _guest__  brat."

 

"What? She's weak, can't move."

 

As the pair made their way below the deck, slowly disappearing out of sight, Marco, who was standing by his father's side the whole time, stared up at the larger man.

 

"What is it, Marco."

 

"I'm just a little surprised. That's all, yoi."

 

Whitebeard closed his eyes and tried to explain his reasoning to his son, "Her and Ace were the ones who had fought. If she is going to stay on this ship for a prolonged period of time I need them to get along. Making them spend time together is bound to lead to some sort of truce. Last thing I need is two brats fighting on the deck every morning."

 

"Ah, I understand that much, but why keep her on the ship at all?" Marco looked up with a questioning brow at his father figure. He had been with Pops the longest but he still had trouble understanding his thoughts from time to time.

 

A deep chuckle left Whitebeard's toothy grin after he took a swig of his sake, "That red hair and defiance in those eyes... seems awfully familiar, doesn't it? Marco?"

 

He was caught off guard by the odd question and the gears started turning in his mind to contemplate it. He thought back to the girl. Marco was positive he had never met the girl until then, but it seemed that Pops expected him to know something. Even he himself had an odd sense of deja vu when he looked at the girl. He thought over the question for awhile before his eyes widened at the realization...

 

"Pops, you don't really mean to tell me that..."

 

"Gurarara, don't jump the gun too early yet boy! But I do think we stumbled upon something interesting. Keep an eye on her would you."

 

With another swig of his sake, the conversation was brought to an end and Marco started making his was below deck. His usually calm features were now laced with a bit of curiosity. If Pops was meaning to tell him what Marco thought he was telling him... then why was the girl a _marine_?

* * *

 

  
She lifted her head to observe all the different corridors Fire Fist was passing through, she never really took in just how massive the ship was. She was jostled out of her thoughts when she began to bounce a top the man's shoulder. She glared at the steps coming into her line of sight,  _ _another set of stairs__?

 

Looking over her shoulder, she stared at the back of his head, watching his wavy hair under that outrageous hat swish with his movements. She let out a deep breath and lowered her head again, face to face with the middle of his muscular, yet bandaged back. Looking at the bandages, a small satisfied smirk tugged at her lips. Of course, she  _ _had__  lost in the end, but managing to inflict that much damage to him was no small feat from what she heard. There was still her question on whether he had just been playing with her though...

 

They had been walking, or rather he had been walking, in total silence. Fed up with the brooding atmosphere, Akane spoke up, "I'm capable of walking y'know."

 

"Good. We're here." The curt response surprised her. She expected he would spit something rude back at her, but he already placed her down on her feet without another word. He walked away from her, passing many tables, and disappearing behind a door on the other side of the room.

 

She stood in the large room void of people. The crew probably already had eaten when she was still asleep. Without not much other choice, she followed Ace's path and pushed the swinging door he had passed through a little while earlier.

 

The door lead to the ship's very large kitchen which was empty save for Ace, who was placing leftover food on a plate. He was doing the job with a small frown on his face, seemingly reluctant of the task. He turned his head slightly to the side when he heard the door open but chose to ignore the girl's presence in favour of completing his  _ _stupid__ orders. Finishing filling the plate with various foods that were served at dinner, he picked up a fork and walked past the girl and back into the large, cafeteria-like room. The girl, Akane was it? Followed quickly behind him. He could practically feel the irritation in her movements and he had to admit, it gave him some sort of satisfaction.

 

He placed the fork and plate of food on one of the numerous tables and motioned for Akane to sit down. With her stomach almost painfully empty, she complied without so much as a bit of arguing. She slid onto the bench and began eating almost immediately. It was a bit painful to chew the food, her jaw hurt and she deduced it was probably some sort of injury from their fight. As Akane continued to eat, she expected him to leave, but out of the top of her eye, she noticed Fire Fist sitting across from her.

 

"What?" She grunted through bites of food.

 

He rested his cheek against the palm of his hand, looking away indifferently, “Nothing, just surprised at how you eat like a brute.” His eyes moved to meet hers along with a smug smirk.

 

Her eyes bore into the pair across from hers, mentally killing the other. They were brought out of their staring contest of death when they heard footsteps approaching them.

 

"Can't you two get along for two minutes yoi?"

 

"No-" They stared at each other again for having spoken in unison.

 

Marco heaved a sigh at their juvenile behavior and took a seat across from Akane. "You two better behave, 'else Pops gonna throw both of you overboard."

 

Akane scoffed quietly and muttered, "'least I can swim."

 

A small grunt of frustration left Ace's throat at the comment. It looked like she set him off again. Marco observed the two of them with interest. It would seem they were both capable of getting under the other's skin with one method or another. How Pops expected them to arrive to a 'truce' on their own was beyond Marco. He decided he would help lead the  _young ones_  to an understanding. It was his job to keep an eye on her anyway.

 

Ace began to stride away but before he could get far, Marco grabbed his wrist and threw him on the bench, a forceful motion suggesting that Ace sit beside him. The girl stopped mid-bite and stared questioningly at the spectacle in front of her, Marco simply smiled calmly at her.

 

"Marco! What the fu-"

 

"So, Miss Akane, I recall hearing that you and your crew were on the island busting some criminals? Tell  _ _us__  about it, yoi." Gritting his teeth on the emphasized word and throwing a side glance at Ace, daring him to even make a move to leave. Marco hoped the small talk would help the girl relax in his presence a bit. He had much more important questions he needed answered later on after all. From the corner of his eye, Marco saw Ace almost _pout,_ and turn his head defiantly to the side, refusing to contribute to the conversation.

 

Akane stared perplexed at the older of the two men across the table. Realizing she still had a fork of food hovering right in front of her open mouth, she took a bite and chewed, slowly. Call her stubborn but she would prefer to prolong having to talk about her life to the pirates if she could avoid it. She chewed her food as much as she could, and swallowed it. Marco was patient though, and he was still staring at her waiting for an answer. Without much other choice, she chose to respond in the most curt way possible, "Omega Crew. They were small time pirates and sold some illegal substances. Base was at the island. Shut the operation down. That's all." She shrugged slightly at the end and resumed her meal of leftovers. Apparently the answer wasn't enough for him because his interest seemed piqued.

 

"Oh? Never heard of them. How long were you on the case?"

 

She was beginning to get irritable but kept her face composed. There was no way she would lose her cool now, not after her life had been spared. Before she answered, she took another bite of food and took a good look at the two men sitting across from her. One of them, Marco, was staring at her with interest and relaxed features, while the other, Ace, refused to look at her, his lips in a small pout and with furrowed eyebrows. The whole scene was actually quite comical due to how opposite they were. A small giggle left her lips before she could catch it and she internally cursed herself for accidentally dropping her composure.

 

"What is it yoi?" He continued to smile at her.

 

"N-nothing, don't pay me any mind." She replied, waving her hand in a dismissive manner.

 

Marco wore a contented expression with how the conversation was going better than he had planned. It seemed she was quite friendly, even towards pirates. She just needed to be encouraged. He watched as she finished the last bits of her food and placed the fork diagonally on her plate, signaling she had finished her meal. He was amused at her subconscious actions. Seeing a little etiquette was refreshing when living on a pirate ship.

 

"Uh, the plate... I should..."

 

"Oh don't worry about it Miss Akane, Ace will take care of it." The latter addressed whipped his head around and glared at Marco. "Won't you? Ace?" He said through a tight smile again.

 

Ace's jaw jutted out in a peeved manner but he stood up and roughly grabbed the plate, swiftly striding towards the kitchen door and angrily pushing it open, leaving it swinging in the aftershock after he passed through. Marco exhaled a quick breath through his nose and closed his eyes. He opened them again to find that the young girl sitting across from him was starting to look drowsy. It appeared she was fighting an internal battle with her exhausted body to stay awake, but she was slowly losing.

 

She really didn't want to fall asleep here, but she couldn't help the feeling washing over her. Sleep meant that she would be defenseless. Against her will, her head started to lull and her eyelids began to weigh down on themselves. Despite Marco being a pirate, he was rather kind to her their entire encounter. He had even brought stew to her room without knowing if she would be awake or not... And he smiled kindly... Submitting to her body's will, she slowly drifted off to sleep, content with the thought that Marco wouldn't hurt her in unconscious state.

 

Her head fell to the wooden table with a dull 'thunk' and Marco let out a chuckle. The action reminded him a lot of a certain angry crew mate that was, at the moment, washing a plate in the kitchen. He stood up from his seat and walked around the table to where the small sleeping form was. He bent down and wrapped one arm on her waist and one arm around her shoulders, slowly slipping her out of the bench. When she was out far enough, the arm that was around her waist moved down to underneath her lower thigh, giving him enough grip to lift her up and hold her against his chest. He had decided against carrying her over his shoulder again.

 

Ace walked out of the kitchen with a scowl on his face but the expression was wiped away when he did a double take at the bundle in his friend's arms. What the hell? He was only in the kitchen for about a minute and he comes out to Marco carrying their passed out 'guest' in his arms?

 

"Uh... What happened?"

 

"Fell asleep after eating, yoi."

 

He scoffed, "How stupid." Falling asleep in enemy territory, was she out of her mind?

 

"Reminds me of you."

 

And the scowl was back. He stared at the sleeping girl. She was a hell of a lot cuter when she didn't speak, in his opinion. Ace watched as the girl nestled closer to the crook of Marco's neck in her state of unconsciousness.

 

Marco chuckled. If he _didn't_ know any better, he'd say Ace was jealous. He knew the boy held interest for the girl. Ace had ever since he had to be bandaged up 'for the first time in years'. Whether it be with good or bad intentions, Marco knew that Ace would follow the girl around even if he wouldn't be given orders to. Marco couldn't help but wear a playful smirk when he felt Akane nestle into his neck and puff out a sigh in her sleep, the small action further making Ace's frown deepen. Marco admitted to it, he liked poking fun at his dear little brother and he had a feeling that the next three weeks would be quite the unique experience upon the Moby Dick.

 

"Taking her back to 'er room, I'm assuming you're relieved of your duties now, so you're free to go." What he didn't expect as a response was a pair of furrowed brows and contemplative eyes.

 

"I'll come too." The answer making Marco's usually half-lidded eyes slightly widen. "Nothing better to do." Ace added on in justification. What? He really didn't. He hadn't received orders to do anything else since he was still 'injured', and it was already late evening...

 

He watched as a playful expression adorned Marco's features, the older turning around and making his way out of the galley. Ace followed a few steps behind him, taking a peek at the little bit of scarlet hair that was visible over Marco's shoulder. Did their battle really exert her that much? She had already slept for two days and now she passed out again. He guessed having to face Pops for the first time could drain someone of their energy, but still, this girl was ridiculous and that was coming from him.

 

"If you keep that expression on your face it'll get stuck like that yoi." Marco said, looking over his shoulder.

 

Ace sighed in reply, "Shut up." But the reminder was enough to make Ace relax his features. Constantly glaring and scowling made his face cramp and put him in a forced, sour mood. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and let his anger leave with it. The girl, Akane, didn't really do anything  _ _that__  wrong. They were pirates and she was a marine. She was only doing her duty and he supposed he found her more bearable than most awfully persistent and annoying marines he had the pleasure of running into. She even let her crew escape in place for her own life, a noble act of a captain. He had done it himself when he was once a captain almost over a year ago.

 

__"That doesn't mean much coming from you!"_ _

 

Akane hated him, rightfully so, and it wasn't like he particularly favoured her that much either. Ace would not expect her to like him, hell he didn't care for her to, but he felt a desire to know more about her, if only to quench his curiosity.

 

" _ _Killed, specifically."__

 

" _ _Don't know. Don't care."__

 

Were her circumstances a little like his?

 

" _ _...She protected me."__

 

He lightly shook his head and shut his eyes as an act to physically shove the thoughts out of his mind.

 

They reached her given room, a private resting quarters that was in the medical wing. Ace opened the door since Marco's hands were full, and they both walked towards the unkempt bed. Marco gently placed her down on the mattress, took off her shoes, and pulled the covers over her. She let out another soft sigh in her sleep and shifted under the covers to a more comfortable position and lay there, letting out soft even breaths, content and relaxed.

 

Marco began to make his way out of the room to let the girl have some quiet but stopped when he noticed there weren't any footsteps behind him. He turned around to look at Ace's relaxed shoulders, quietly staring at the sleeping girl with his face no longer adorning the scowl he had been wearing his entire encounter with Akane. A warm smile crept up to Marco's lips at the sight of the younger crew mate probably reasoning with conflicting thoughts over the Marine girl.

 

"You coming or not, yoi?"

 

Ace's snapped out of his daze and began to walk over to Marco, "Uh, yeah... I just..."

 

"What?"

 

"Nothing. Doesn't matter."

 

The two made their way out of the room and Marco slowly closed the door behind him. They walked side-by-side to the top deck in silence, the sound of talking and laughing growing with each step they took. The sun was almost set, the top of it touching the distant water and slowly disappearing behind the horizon.

 

Marco was making his way to the center of the deck where Pops' large chair where he sat, and the rest of the crew were gathering for their night-time festivities. As he reached his destination, he noticed Ace continuing to walk off, for what Marco guessed, was a secluded area on deck to sit and think. He shook his head but let it go, the boy was stubborn and would need time to adjust to the changes on board, specifically, a certain extra passenger. Ace wasn't one to usually miss celebrations, but this was an exceptional situation, wasn't it.

 

Ace found a place on deck away from the crew and sat down. He looked out onto the sunset, the last bits of it painting the sea and sky a deep red as it slowly disappeared below the horizon. The scarlet sky unwillingly made his thoughts drift to the girl. He closed his eyes and tried to clear the muddled thoughts of that day away and instead began thinking of a way to sort this problem out.

* * *

 

Sengoku was sorting out different reports on his desk when the door to his office opening took his attention away from what he was doing. He watched Akainu enter the room, not notably surprising in itself, however the Admiral wore an even deeper scowl etched into the contours of his facial features than usual.

 

"What is it Sakazuki."

 

"A report reached me yesterday night about a Captain being taken hostage by pirates."

 

"So? It isn't my job to babysit, get on it."

 

"The pirates are the Whitebeards, and the hostage is Akane."

 

Sengoku's eyes widened, "What? Why didn't you report this to me sooner? That damned Whitebeard, what is he up to!"

 

"It only reached me just recently, something like this isn't that uncommon of an ordeal so the report was slow to reach the higher ranks." If it was even possible, Akainu's frown deepened. "But since it's Akane... and since it's that damned Newgate..."

 

A low rumble of frustration rose in Sengoku's throat. That Whitebeard... he never took hostages, so was it possible he already figured out...? No, that was impossible. Although she bore a resemblance, it wasn't something that would cross most people's minds... But Newgate wasn't just an average person. Sengoku cursed at the situation. That girl... would be better off dead than an enemy to the Navy. He had an idea of what Whitebeard was thinking and if that bastard played his cards right... the Navy could lose a soldier with lot's of potential, and gain another enemy that would cause lots of trouble in the future. He knew it was possible too, that girl did not hold the same type of loyalty to the Navy as the other soldiers did.

 

__Sengoku stared down the line of the top eighteen ranking recruits from the new batch of soldiers enlisted. The top scoring would always be sent to him so he could assess them and assign them as apprentices to a fitting Vice Admiral for enhanced training and experience. This way, the exceptional and the prodigies would develop their skills further and hopefully become the leaders of the Navy in future generations._ _

 

__He walked up to the first soldier in the line. He could see the young man flinch under his gaze. "Soldier! Why did you join the Navy?"_ _

 

" _ _To uphold the truth of Justice, sir!" The man squeaked as a response.__

 

__Good. He continued down the line, asking the same question to each soldier and receiving an answer along the same lines. It was to be expected. The Navy drilled the importance of lawful justice into every new recruit._ _

 

__Sengoku stopped in front of the last soldier in line, having to lower his line of sight more than he had to with the others. A young girl with shoulder length red hair and smokey gray, unphased eyes stood in front of him. He was a bit surprised at the sight since she couldn't have been older than sixteen or seventeen... such a young girl beat the testing scores of almost all the other new recruits? She did appear to have a very athletic build and intelligent eyes, but this was still a rare occurrence to be seen. The last time this happened was with Hina, if he wasn't mistaken._ _

 

" _ _Soldier! Why did you join the Navy?"__

 

" _ _To sail the seas with freedom... Sir."__

 

Sengoku always kept an eye on her records and reports. She was different than most Marines in the sense that she was indifferent towards pirates. She followed her orders and would get her job done, but she never held a strong sense of lawful justice. It was peculiar, but he never directly questioned her about it since she was competent in her duties. That didn't stop him from having an extensive investigation on her background though. When the reports came back, he knew he had to have a strong hold on the girl. She was potentially dangerous to them if she were to ever discover her origins, but a valuable and strong asset if she was left in the dark about them. In all honesty, it would have been better if she were to have never existed, however since she does, it would be best to use her for the Navy than anything else. He opted to having a special watch on her and her movements. Now with her in Newgate's hands... nothing good could come of it.

 

"Sakazuki, set up a rescue mission immediately. Track down the Moby Dick. Be as cautious as possible, avoid as much conflict as you can." Sengoku's brows furrowed, "Hurry."

 

"Of course." Akainu swiftly made his way out of the office, intending to get to work right away. The Fleet Admiral and the Admirals were the only ones who were aware of her origins. He never liked the idea of having the brat Akane in the Navy at all and should have just executed her from the start. He pulled out a transponder snail from his suit and dialed a call.

 

" _Buru buru... buru buru... kachank!_ Borsalino, looks like we're going on a little retrieval mission."

 

"Oh? A rescue? Interesting, eh?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please remember to like and comment if you enjoyed the chapter! Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anxiety has gotten the better of Akane, having old trauma stirring itself up in her nightmares. She wakes up in sweat and tears, finding resolve to make it out of this situation alive no matter what it takes.

_The sounds of screams and frantic footfalls could be heard outside of the small house. Inside, a young mother was rushing to get her daughter out the back door to escape into the thick forest of the island, away from the pillaging._

 

_The girl whimpered as she looked up at her mother with tear-filled eyes._

 

“ _Don't worry Akane, I'll always protect you, I love you, you know that don't you?” Her mother said with a warm smile and reassuring eyes._

 

“ _I love you too.” The girl choked out, grabbing on to her mother's skirt and nestling her head against the woman's thigh._

 

“ _Don't cry Akane, don't be scared. This will all be over soon, and then we can eat dinner together tonight, okay?”_

 

_A woman yanked open the back door to the house in a frenzy, spotting the two figures in the center of the room. She spoke to them with haste, “Elizabeth! This isn't the time to be standing around! Grab Akane, let's go!”_

 

_Shouts could be heard near the front door of the house, the pirate's were close, and if they didn't leave soon they would all be killed._

 

“ _Leah, take Akane and go. One of us has to stay back and buy the other two some time, or else they'll chase us down and we'll all be caught.”_

 

“ _Elizabeth don't be ridiculous! Just hurry up!” Her voice growing more frantic, her dearest friend always chose to go down the selfless path._

 

“ _Mom?”_

 

_Elizabeth crouched down to meet her lovely daughter's eyes. This young, precious, beautiful girl had been her entire life for the past six years, and losing her would be worse than dying. She slipped her hands behind her neck and unhooked the golden chain, placing it in Akane's small palm._

 

“ _Akane, you know this is mommy's favourite necklace right? If you ever feel alone, wear this necklace and remember how much your mother loves you. I'll always be inside this necklace, so mommy will always be with you okay?”_

 

_The girl looked up at her mother, and the tears welling up in the girl's eyes streaked down her cheeks. Why was her mom smiling? Weren't there bad guys out there?_

 

_With loud crashes outside the front door, Leah didn't have anymore time to argue. Elizabeth had already made up her mind and she wouldn't change it, no matter how much Leah would try to insist. She dashed inside the house and grabbed the crying young girl, not looking back as she ran out the back door. A determined, yet pained expression overtook her features as she ran further away from her best friend and towards the forest, leaving her to face her imminent death alone._

 

_Why were they leaving mom behind! Akane's struggled and pushed herself up to see over the woman's shoulder, and she stared in horror as the receding image of a large man bringing a sword down to her mother burned into her memory. The only thing she could hear was an ear-piercing shriek echoing to her ears before she watched her mother collapse._

 

She shot out of bed, damp with sweat and tears from the nightmare. She brought a shaky hand to her face and held her cheek with a sweaty palm. It had been a long time since she had dreamed up a memory... Maybe the stress of recent events finally took their tole on her.

 

Trying to wash away the nightmare from her mind, she was not willing to lay back down in bed again in fear of returning to that scene. Akane looked out the port window and saw that it was twilight outside. Waking up to the darkness outside disoriented her sense of time. It either meant she just had an extensive nap or that she slept through another entire day. She swung her not-as-sore legs over the mattress and saw her flip flops waiting for her in the exact same way they were when she had first woken up on the ship. She recalled the fresh memory of her first, clumsy encounter with Marco the Phoenix. The thought of the man brought her back to when they were in the galley. She had fallen asleep there in front of him, so it made sense that he was the one to carry her back to her room.

  
  
She shook her head, and wiped the tears from her eyes. What was she thinking? She was letting down her defenses far too easily considering she was on a foreign ship. First by accepting their food, second by slipping out a giggle at the pirates, and thirdly, letting herself be in the most defenseless state a person could be in, right in front of one of them! She couldn't believe she even let the thoughts of Marco not being a bad guy slip into her sleepy mind before... she hardly knew the man! And what was up with her claiming things! 'Her bed', 'her flip flops', 'her room', they weren't! She slipped up far too much too fast. She didn't even act this comfortably with her own crew.

  
  
The reminder of her crew brought a frown to her face. Did they make it out okay? They were her crew so they had to have. If three, possibly four days now, had passed since the incident on the island, they were bound to have reported what had happened by now. As much as she believed she didn't need them and she didn’t care too have a crew... at that moment, an overwhelming sense of loneliness washed over her that brought her back to the days she spent on her island after the pirate attack. At least... she took the fall in their place. She was strong and she would survive this. She fiddled with the heart pendant that hung on the gold chain with her thumb and index finger, the thumb absentmindedly rubbing across the engraved symbol on the back.

 

“ _If you ever feel alone, wear this necklace and remember how much your mother loves you.”_

  
  
With new resolve, Akane finally got out of bed and slid on the flimsy shoes. She still couldn't get used to them. Her normal footwear usually consisted of heavy boots for protection. She walked over to the door and noticed she wasn't nearly as exhausted as she was the first time she had woken up. She turned the knob and exited into a corridor of doors, doors, some stairs, and more doors. Why did this ship have to be so damn big? Where the hell was she?

  
  
As she stood in silence, she heard the faint sounds of laughing and singing somewhere in the distance. Thinking it was her best chance of escaping the maze, she followed the noise with sharp ears, making her way through the halls. As she followed the sound, she thought out her different paths of action. As far as she could see it, she was stuck on this ship. Acting sour and ungrateful could possibly get her thrown off of it and that's the last thing she needed. She decided a better approach instead would be to act and get along with them, and hopefully they would spare her life when they reached the island in a couple of weeks because of it.

 

Walking up a couple flights of stairs, she was met with the sight of pirates. Lots of them. A lot were passed out on deck, but there were still few cheerily laughing or singing. It was obvious the party was winding down though. The sight at least answered her confusion from earlier; she had slept through most of the night, not another day.

 

She didn’t realize before just how many pirates were aboard the ship, but it made sense considering the sheer size of it. She hesitantly made her way over to the gathering, a few faces, a slightly drunk-looking Marco being one of them, turning to her as they acknowledged her presence. An arm around her shoulders caught her off guard and a startled squeak escaped her throat.

  
  
"Yo! So the sleepy head finally woke up and joined the party! You're a little late though." The man with his arm draped friendly across her shoulders said to the surprised girl. She stared blankly at him, taking in his appearance. He didn’t seem as drunk or tired as the other pirates around. His face was a familiar one, and she was sure she had seen it a few times in the past on wanted posters. There was no mistaking it, that ridiculous pompadour hairstyle and scarred face...

  
  
"I'm Thatch. Nice to finally meet the special guest."

  
  
She tried her best to suppress the smile on her face but couldn't. The man's air was ridiculously contagious and his funny appearance didn't aid in helping her try to frown. She sighed at just how weak she was at controlling her demeanor around these pirates. She couldn't help it, they were so stupidly open and friendly with her that it brought out the same reciprocation in Akane.

  
She smiled, "I know who you are, and my name is Akane, not 'guest'."

  
  
He let out a hearty laugh at her response, the inadvertent teasing making her embarrassed. "I'm honoured that such a wonderful, young lady such as yourself knows who I am. Well, Miss Akane, how 'bout you drink some sake and join in on the fun?" He held up a cup to her face and a whooping from the rest of the drunk, awake pirates resounded as an encouraging push. She didn't realize until then just how dry her throat was. She hadn't drank anything since she arrived on the ship... Had she been hooked up to I.V.s at some point during her unconscious first couple days?

 

Hesitantly she took the cup in her hands and took a sip, if only to quench her thirst. The crowd on the deck cheered and encouraged her to continue, so she drank the rest of the cup. When offered another, Akane decided against it. She knew what alcohol could do to her, especially on an empty stomach. She lowered the cup. No, she refused to let down her restraints _that_ much.

  
  
She gently removed his arm from around her shoulder, "Thank you, I appreciate the offer, but I was just looking to get a bit of fresh air." After she politely declined the offer and returned the cup, she looked around at all the drunken pirates.

  
  
"What are you guys celebrating anyway?" It was a little odd, as far as she knew nothing had happened worthy of festivities on the ship while she was on board. Thatch opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, a deep voice from behind where they were standing, spoke.

  
  
"Living."

  
  
The voice made her jump a bit, but she turned around to face Whitebeard. The man had looked like he had fallen asleep in his chair, so the reply had been unexpected to her. With a cheeky grin on his face and warm eyes, Akane didn't find him nearly half as threatening as she did before. It was almost... welcoming.

  
"Living?"

  
  
"Living."

  
  
The one-worded answer perplexed her. Why would anyone celebrate so intensely just for the simple fact that they were alive? She must have worn a pretty confused expression because Whitebeard started laughing at her with that odd chuckle only he possessed.

  
  
"Go get the fresh air you wanted, Akane."

  
  
With the encouraging words from Whitebeard, she politely dismissed herself from the crowd in favour of searching for a more secluded area on deck. As she made her way further and further down the deck, she noticed a form lying motionless on the wooden floor. She assumed it was some passed out, old drunkard who had a little too much to drink, but as she approached, the form undeniably looked more and more like Fire Fist.

  
  
She hesitated a little in her steps. Was it okay for her to be here? She didn't hold too much of a grudge against the pirate, in all honesty. She and he had fought against each other in order of serving their own sides. Marines. Pirates. It was only natural for them to fight so their quarrel didn’t bother her much anymore now that she had some time to cool down and heal, but he seemed to hold a grudge against her. His cold behavior towards her had only reciprocated the feelings. For the life of her she couldn't understand why he acted that way. He had won hadn't he?

  
  
It appeared she had ended up on the quarterdeck in front of the pirate when she was lost in her thoughts. She saw him breathe evenly, and she was drawn to the rhythmic pattern of his broad chest rising and falling. She knelt down by his face and tilted her head to the side to really take a look at him. Whenever her eyes would meet his, his face would morph into an ugly frown... but now... Looking at his calm, serene features, she could finally take in just how handsome the stupid blockhead actually was.

  
  
Dark brown, wavy hair framed his sleeping face, the colour complimenting his warm, tan skin. Nicely shaped eyebrows lay atop a pair of closed lids that had long lashes for a boy. A straight nose guided the path down towards slightly parted, full lips. Lastly, she took in the sight of the childish freckles that danced across his cheeks below his eyes. She felt drawn towards them, wanting to touch them but decided against it. The idea of him waking up in the middle of the act wasn't very alluring. As she took in his features, she realized he was almost... beautiful. Not in the sense that he was feminine, not at all, although some of his features _could_ easily be seen on a woman, but in the sense that he looked so peaceful it made Akane herself, relax.

 

She smiled gently at the sleeping figure and rose to her feet, turning around and walking over to the railing of the ship. She looked out onto the sea. It was her first time truly admiring it in months. The desire she had held to be out on the open waves back when she was on the island was slowly being quenched. She closed her eyes and breathed in the salty air. She had missed this liberating feeling more than she had realized. A warm swelling rose up inside her chest and she grinned, looking at the larger than life body of water always washed away her troubles.

 

Akane looked out onto the horizon, watching the dimly lit sky begin to fill with streaks of orange and red as the tip of the sun began to rise in the east. She held onto the railing and smiled as she heard the pirates singing a happy song in the distant background. She decided she would sing an old sea shanty herself. The redhead hummed happily for the first few verses of the song and then began to sing as she eased into the melody.

 

_In this windy old weather, stormy old weather,_

 

_When the wind blows, we'll all pull together,_

 

She singed out onto the sea, closing her eyes to enjoy the cool air kiss her cheeks. She let the melody sweep her away, and after singing another verse of the nostalgic song, a voice from behind her had joined in as well.

 

_Then out jumped the cod, with his great bulging eye,_

 

_He sung out “Ol' Skipper your rig is too high!”,_

 

She turned around and saw that Ace had apparently woken up during her performance and was now lying on his side facing her, his face supported with his elbow. He didn't wear the frown he had when he was around her before and instead looked at her with contemplative eyes and a face that held a resolve of some sort.

 

He got up and walked towards her and stood beside the girl, his body taller and stronger built than hers. Holding the railing as he watched the sun rise with her, he continued where the song had been left at an abrupt stop.

 

_In this windy old weather, stormy old weather,_

 

_When the wind blows, we'll all pull together..._

 

After finishing the chorus he side glanced at the girl, seeing that she was wearing a stupidly wide grin on her face. Ace turned his head away from the odd spectacle, “What's so amusing?”

 

She chuckled at him and looked back at the sunrise, “I never took you for the singing type.”

 

Ace turned around to face her, full body, with an annoyed look on his face. He raised a finger to the girl's face in an accusatory manner, “I'm a pirate and pirates sing.”

 

Her eyes went cross as she stared at the accusing finger that was a little too close to her face for her vision to focus on it. The finger stopped scolding as it's owner looked at the girl.

 

The hand retreated to Ace's side as he turned away from her. Akane looked as his tattooed and bandaged back started to shake along with a hand bringing the tip of his hat over his eyes. The caring side inside of her began to worry and she reached up a hand to touch the man's shoulder, “Hey, what's wr-”

 

The sound of Ace trying to choke back a laugh reached her ears. What was so funny? The suppressed chuckles wouldn't stop, beginning to irritate her for having her worry for no reason. Her hand that was hovering just above his shoulder moved, moved to the middle of the man's back, shoving him forward. The unsuspecting pirate stumbled forward but caught his fall. He then turned around and glared at her, but she noticed it didn't hold the same sentiment his previous ones had had.

 

“And what was _that_ for?”

 

“For laughing at me.”

 

He walked back towards her and stood in front of her. The girl had to tilt her neck up to look him in the eyes, her straight line of sight only reaching his chest. Ace found it quite amusing. “Of course I'm gonna laugh at you.” He leaned down and flicked her nose, the action making the girl flinch her head backwards, “You act like a damn child.”

 

The accusation infuriated the young girl. Her hands retreated from her nose and balled up into fists at her sides. She leaned forward ever so slightly as she retorted, “I am _not_ a child! I'm only a year younger than you, idiot!”

 

“Hey don't blame me for when your parents had you.” He grinned back in reply.

 

Akane was about ready to snap and punch the idiot, but stopped that line of thinking. When had the two of them started getting along so well? Just yesterday they were treating each other rudely, and now they were playfully teasing each other? It was a subtle difference of course, a thin line, but a line all the same. She relaxed her shoulders and took in the situation. She had no idea what had happened to him while she was sleeping to have him start acting this way towards her. Whatever it was, she was grateful. She was not the type to hold a grudge, but it made it hard for her not to retort when someone treated her the way he had. Always arguing the entire three weeks would be exhausting anyway. If he treated her normally, the trip would be much less stressful for the both of them. They were both unwilling victims in this, after all.

 

She looked up at the pirate who was peering at her questioningly because of her silence. A warm smile graced her features and she shrugged, “Yeah, you're right.”

 

She turned away from him and began walking towards the ship's railing to watch the sun's slow ascent into the sky. With the sound of footsteps behind her, she was followed by the pirate to watch the spectacle.

 

All the sounds around her seemed louder than they had been when she first arrived on deck, and that was when she noticed that the pirates were no longer singing. She leaned back from the railing while still gripping it and peered at the crowd further down from the pair. It appeared that the last bit of the crew had passed out sometime while Akane was talking with Ace. What an odd crew. Celebrating all through the night into the early morning just because 'they were alive'.

 

She turned back to face the calm water. There was complete quietness all around her, the only sound being the gentle sloshing of the water hitting the bottom of the boat. The serene quiet relaxed her body and she closed her eyes.

 

“You're not gonna pass out again are you?”

 

She opened one eye and peeked at the man beside her who was obviously trying to provoke her, “No, just enjoying the quiet until you talked.” She shut her eye again in hopes of ending the conversation.

 

He leaned on his elbow that rested atop the railing and looked at the girl, “You're awfully relaxed for a marine on a pirate ship.”

 

The statement made her eyes flutter open in surprise. How was she supposed to act? “As long as I'm on a ship out on the freedom of the sea, I don't think I really care who I'm with.” She answered in a matter of fact way.

 

An airy chuckle left his lips, “You sound a lot more like a pirate than a marine to me.”

 

She eyed Ace again. Did she really? The idea of becoming a pirate _had_ crossed her mind a few times in the past, but she refused to act on it because of what had happened to her mother and village. Instead, she became a marine to pursue her desire for freedom and a blank slate from the tragedy that had continued to plague her for many years after it happened. Though she didn't really know if it could be called 'freedom' considering the strict rules and duties. “I don't care about the conflict between pirates and marines. I only desired to set sail for the chance at freedom and finding out who I am.”

 

He scoffed, “So you became a _marine_?”

 

The mocking tone annoyed her so she replied sarcastically, “What? Should I have just set sail on my own and try to make a name for myself?”

 

Ace turned around and hopped up onto the railing, sitting down on it. He looked down at her with a proud grin, “S'what I did.”

 

She rolled her eyes. Had he not noticed the sarcasm in her remark? “I know.”

 

The grin was replaced with a surprised stare, “You do?”

 

Akane sighed, “Again, I'm a _marine_. A _marine captain_. Of course I know about you.” She turned away and muttered, “Not exactly a small name either.”

 

The indirect compliment brought a prideful smirk to his face, obviously boosting his ego, “Ah, well I try.”

 

“Now can you be quiet for two minutes? I'd like to enjoy the sunrise.” The sun was already fully visible but still low in the sky. Akane really wanted to know what had caused Ace to be so friendly towards her. It just felt so strange...

 

The comment kept him quiet after that. Ace watched as her delicate features relaxed when she looked out onto the sight that was in the distance behind him. It looked like she had completely zoned him and everything else out, like she was in a trance.

 

While she watched the sea, he chose to instead watch her. He had decided at the beginning of the night that he would let go of their earlier quarrel and treat her like the guest that Pops had said he was supposed to treat her as. What mostly made the change of heart possible for him was that Teach had come out without long-lasting injuries or grudge and brushed the encounter off, saying that there was no way 'a shrimp like that could hurt him'. He couldn't deny himself, the girl interested him and he wanted to know more. Treating the girl badly would only push him further away from ridding the curiosity from his mind, and besides, Makino had taught him to treat women politely. Of course, getting in a fight with the girl when they first met kind of ruined that... Ace wasn't always the best with this kind of thing, but she had reacted surprisingly well when he decided to approach her nicely.

 

A breeze blew past him and he watched as it danced through her long hair. He couldn't suppress the smile that tugged at his lips. He was a little excited. With a new approach to the girl, he felt like the journey to the next island would be more interesting than anything. He brought a hand behind his neck and grabbed the hat that hung around his shoulders, placing it onto his head and adjusting it on top of his wavy hair with a grin. He hopped off the railing and began to walk away, the abrupt movement lifting the girl from her trance.

 

“Where are you going?” She asked, looking at him intently.

 

He scratched the back of his head, “Ah, I'm going in for a shower. It's a lot easier when everyone isn't crowding in there.”

 

The mention of a shower sent a wave of self-awareness through Akane. A look of pure realization washed over her as just how _gross_ she probably was dawned on her. When was the last time she showered, or brushed her teeth, or even combed her hair? A nervous laugh escaped from her as she was about to ask a rather awkward question. “Uh, where exactly are the showers?” She said, with her voice a tad higher than usual.

 

She could have sworn she saw Ace's eyes widen at the statement, if only a little, but he recovered from his surprise and grinned mischievously at her, “The showers are below deck. Go left twice, down a flight of stairs, right, left, down one more and you'll see a large room with lots of shower heads. Oh, and it's a public shower by the way, hope that's alright.”

 

Her brain froze at 'public'. _Public_ _shower._ A public shower on a ship full of _men_. She groaned at the information, and the thought of not showering for a couple of weeks actually seemed more enticing than being clean.

 

The man across from her keeled over with laughter and clutched his stomach. Apparently the look on her face was _entertaining_. He may have started acting friendly with her but she made a note to herself that he was still very much a devil.

 

Trying to control his laughter, he tried speaking to the girl, “Pff-- the nurses have their own-- hah-- showers though, so you don't have to worry!” Still giggling, he turned to walk away, leaving the girl with a gaping mouth.

 

“Well you could have _started_ with that!” She yelled after him.

 

“Sorry, you just make it too easy.” He said with a chuckle, “C'mon, I'll show you to the nurses sleeping quarters.”

 

Lead he did. He led her through a couple hallways and stairs- a path she made sure to make a mental note of, before they ended up in front of the nurses room.

 

“All the nurses on board are female so Pops made sure to install separate facilities for them. You can use 'em, just ask them about it.”

 

“Thanks.” She turned to him and smiled.

 

“It's no big deal--”

 

“No, it is. Not just this... just... thank you, for not hating me...” The confession awkwardly left her lips. She wasn't the one to usually express their gratitude.

 

He stared at her with widened eyes for a few moments before snickering, “You really _are_ weird, you know that?”

 

She sighed before knocking on the nurses door. The _one time_ she was being serious with him, and he brushed it off with a laugh.

 

Ace had said that they usually woke up much earlier before the rest of the crew. She just hoped that five in the morning wasn't too early. A minute passed before a young women opened the door and gave a once-over at the pair. She looked sweetly at them, “Is there anything I can help you with?”

 

“Yeah.” He threw a thumb over at Akane's direction, “The girl stinks, give her a shower will you?” He started walking away quickly leaving the red-haired girl with her mouth open for the second time that day. The two women couldn't see the accomplished smile on his face as he walked down the hall. He chuckled. The girl didn't stink, not compared to some of the guys in the crew, but it was too easy getting under her skin. He threw a glance over his shoulder with a smug look, “Oh, and meet me in the galley when you're done. You owe me for not hating you, so you'd better come.”

 

She rolled her eyes at the bold order. Devil, he was definitely the devil. She sighed but considered the request. It was still very early in the morning and she had no idea where anything was on the ship, so she didn't really have anything better to do with her time. “Where exactly is the--” But before she could ask for directions to the cafeteria, he turned a corner and was gone.

 

A soft-spoken voice from behind her said, “Don't mind him, he's always like that.” She said with a dismissive hand. “Now, let's get you cleaned up.” She gleamed with a warm smile.

 

In a gust of frenzied movements, she was given a towel, hair brush, tooth brush, tooth paste, a razor, shampoo, body wash, and pushed through a door. The kind nurse, Natalia was her name, explained to her which shower knobs did what and had left her with a grin in one of the stalls.

 

Akane poked her head out from the shower stall and looked around the bathroom. It was rather big, but it was kept very well organized and sterile by the nurses that all slept in the bunk room just outside the door. Satisfied, she placed all the items that were generously given to her by Natalia on the dry floor. She began to strip, slowly removing the denim shirt she wore, button by button. As she reached the last one, the door to the bathroom opened again and Natalia's head popped in.

 

“Sorry for intruding but there are a few things I forgot to mention to you that I think you should know.” She slid her body through the small opening and gently closed it.

 

Akane felt a little embarrassed for being partly undressed, but the women across from her seemed to pay no heed. She mentally smacked herself. Of course Natalia wasn't embarrassed form seeing her; she was a _nurse_. The realization relaxed her, and she didn't mind the company of the first woman she had spoken to in days.

 

“Firstly, you may have noticed, but the other nurses are still sleeping, so it's best to be quiet while you're here.” Akane nodded and would politely comply. “Secondly, it was us who had treated you and changed your clothes while you were unconscious so you don't have to worry about that. Also, if any of your clothes need washing, you can give them to me so I can bring them to you after your shower. And lastly, you can finally remove your bandages. Any of your open wounds should be closed up by now, so letting them breath would actually be a good idea. But if you're planning to use the razor, skip over any scabs, okay?” Natalia winked and smiled at Akane.

 

“Thank you, I appreciate all you've done.” She really did. It was nice to speak with another woman on a ship whose crew was predominately male.

 

Natalia giggled, “Don't mention it, it's nice to have a new female face around here. Let's get along, okay?” With that, she took the girl's clothes for a wash and left Akane to herself.

 

Revitalized, Akane almost tore off the bandages with her impatience and stepped into the shower, turning the hot water knob eagerly. She stared down at her nude body and bit her lip. She looked horrid, absolutely horrid. Her body was littered with bruises, scars and scabs fresh and old. Aside from the obvious, Akane was content with her image. Years of training under the Navy had given her an athletic build with visible muscles she put to good use. Three weeks of not exercising could easily put a dent in her hard work though... She cringed and made a mental reminder to throw in some workout sessions at some point.

 

She cleaned up quickly, coming out feeling a lot more refreshed and awake than before. She dried herself off with the towel that had been given to her and saw that Natalia must have slipped in her undergarments and clothing into the bathroom sometime during her shower. She silently thanked her and gladly put the fresh and warm articles on. She brushed, or rather, ripped the hairbrush through the tangled bird's nest she called hair, and brushed her teeth with the new toothbrush Natalia had given her. That woman was surely a godsend.

 

She walked out of the bathroom with an audible, content sigh. Most of the nurses were awake now, chatting lightly with each other. Akane greeted some of them and thanked them for their kindness towards her, and then asked for directions to the galley.

 

Apparently the fastest route to get from the bedrooms to the cafeteria was to go above deck and walk to the other side of the ship and then again go below deck again. The two locations were on opposite sides of the ship, the bedrooms closer to the stern, and the cafeteria near the bow. For the life of her, Akane had no idea how any of the pirates had learned their way around the massive ship.

 

As she arrived on deck, she noticed that all the drunken, passed out pirates were in exactly the same positions when she had last seen them. It was still very early in the morning, the clock probably only nearing around six. The sun shone a warm morning light on the calm waves, the still air barely held a breeze. The gentle weather helped to ease her nerves.

 

This was is it, it was going to be her first full and conscious day on the Moby Dick.


	4. Underwater

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akane and Ace actually can get along? 
> 
> What happens when an unsuspecting event leaves Ace in her debt?

Akane made her way across the deck, stepping over sleeping bodies as she tried to get to the bow of the ship. As she passed over a particular sleeping Marco, a small giggle slipped through her lips. Finally crossing the sea of bodies, she went down the stairs and diligently followed the directions the nurses had given her that she had made sure to memorize.

 

Upon entering the large hall for eating, she noticed that Ace had yet to arrive. She couldn't see how it had possibly taken him longer to get ready for the day than her. The thought that he might have just tricked her to piss her off and planned to never show up made her scowl. As she walked further into the room, she heard voices coming from the kitchen. Seeing it as her best option, she entered through the swinging doors.

 

Akane was met with an amazing sight. Dozens of chefs were bustling around the large kitchen preparing copious amounts of food to feed the massive crew. The aromas of the delicious foods reached her nose and her mouth water. She was brought out of her trance when a large man walked up to her.

 

“Hello lass. What can we do for you?” The man speaking wiped sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief and looked tired, probably glad to get a little break from the exerting work.

 

“I was just looking for Fire F- uh, Ace.” Realizing it would be a bit odd to address him with his nickname to one of his crew mates.

 

“Ace? I'm afraid I haven't seen him yet, so I can't help ya there.” The moment he finished speaking, the door swung open to reveal a slightly-damp Ace.

 

“Well well well, speak of the devil.” The chef she was talking to chuckled.

 

“Sorry I'm late. Fell asleep in the shower.” He said sheepishly, scratching the back of his still-wet head.

 

Akane scoffed, unbelieving. Was he serious? “That's a terrible excuse.”

 

He walked passed her and pat the chef on the shoulder, shooting her a small frown, “Well it's true.” He laughed, obviously not too affected by her irritation. He gave her a grin, “Since we're here early we get to eat breakfast with the staff.”

 

Akane watched as a very excited grin split his cheeks. He was way too enthusiastic just for eating. But at the mention of food her stomach growled.

 

“So lass, what would you like for breakfast?” The chef said with a toothy smile.

 

She got to choose what she ate? Maybe coming early was worth it. “Eggs and ham would be nice.” She smiled back.

 

“Anything to drink? Orange juice maybe?”

 

She frowned, “Water. Lots and lots of water.” Her tongue sill felt dry from the lack of water she had over the past few days and while orange juice would be good to get some vitamin C in her system, nothing really quenched her like water.

 

The two men stared perplexed at her before they chuckled at her seriousness. The chef patted Ace on the back and sent them out to wait for their food.

 

As she followed him out of the kitchen she noticed he no longer wore any bandages either but his visible torso was littered with bruises and scratches inflicted from haki injuries. They sat down at a table and waited for their food. Akane was fidgety with restlessness and with worry for why Ace had asked her to come here with him. She softly sighed to calm herself and leaned against the table she and Ace were sitting at, “So do you guys do this before every meal?”

 

“Yeah,” he answered her as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “It takes a lot of time to prepare food for so many people so we have chefs pretty much cooking throughout the day. Of course, the ship has a rotation schedule though. The team of chefs that cooks breakfast and dinner one day only cook lunch the next.” He looked off in thought, “Same goes for navigation, lookout, cleaning, and all that junk. Everyone on the ship is a part of the Whitebeard crew but some are specialized in certain areas, like the nurses, whose only orders on board are to do that certain job.”

 

She took in the information almost awestruck. “Wow, that's a lot of... hardwork.”

 

“Yeah, it takes a lot to run a ship this size. Everyone has to work together.” He smiled at the thought. Everyone on the crew was family who relied on each other.

 

The two continued the small talk for awhile, and Akane felt that they were getting along a lot more naturally than she originally thought they would. The thought made her less nervous about the whole situation she was in and even put a genuine smile on her face.

 

The kitchen door opened to reveal chefs carting out lots of food. She stared wide eyed at the amount just for the two of them. Apparently it wasn't such an odd sight because the man sitting across from her just grinned and bounced in his seat as he watched the food come closer and closer.

 

Her plate of her desired breakfast and a large jug of water was placed in front of her while the rest of the food was piled around Ace.

 

Was this guy serious? He couldn't have been serious. But the look on his face said otherwise as he began scarfing down the food. Akane ate and stared in awe at the human vacuum sitting across from her. His pile was disappearing at the same rate her plate was, if that was even possible.

 

She finished her food and he finished his pile at about the same time. Akane didn't really know what to make of the sight she had just seen, but chose to not question it seeing as the nurses and other staff, along with the chefs who were just picking up their plates, ignored it as if it were an everyday sight.

 

“I think I know why they're cooking around the clock.” She muttered under her breath.

 

“Hm?”

 

“Nothing.”

 

She got up to leave but Ace stayed, lying down on the table with a content sigh. She stared perplexed at him. He probably couldn't walk after all that, but he didn't look sick either. In fact, he looked satisfied. Where did all of it _go_?

 

Leaving a satisfied Ace behind, she walked back up to the deck. The morning sun shone down on her. The weather was still amazingly nice which was a sight that wasn't often seen in New World waters. She saw as some nurses were hooking Whitebeard up with... I.V.s? Was he ill? She shook her head at the thought. Maybe he just had too much alcohol to drink- a scary idea considering the size of the man. Some of the crew was beginning to wake up with groans and curses, their hangovers heavy. She walked over to a particular pirate rubbing the side of his head. His half-lidded eyes looked especially tired at that moment.

 

“Do you guys always get this little amount of sleep?” She said as she crouched beside him, balancing on her toes and hugging her knees.

 

She must have spoken too loud for the hungover Marco because he cringed when she spoke. He recovered and replied, his voice still tired and raspy, “Not always yoi. For some reason the party dragged on longer than usual last night.”

 

She was about to reply when the sky suddenly turned ominously black. She cursed herself for jinxing the weather. The calm water began to grow more and more violent and the wind began to whip at her skin.

 

The large waves rocked the massive ship and she fell forward to an unsuspecting Marco who caught her with surprise. Heavy rain started to pour from the thundering sky and all the drunken pirates were quickly sobered up from the shock.

 

Marco rose up to his feet while still holding onto Akane's shoulders, lifting her up with him. All the pirates sprung into action to brace for the storm; they began reeling up the masts, the navigator shouted out directions, Whitebeard calmly distributed orders, and the nurses ran back below deck to safety.

 

Marco's eyes were darting back and forth around the rushing pirates when he then looked down to speak to the girl he was holding on to. He leaned down to look her in the eyes since he could barely see her through the wall of rain and spoke to her with haste, “Go back below deck alright? We can handle this, no need for you to worry'oi.” He turned her around and sent her off with a little push towards the bow of the ship to return to the galley.

 

Having faith in the crew's seasoned abilities, she began to head back to the direction of where she had come from.

 

As she reached the stairs, she crossed paths with Ace sprinting past her. Maybe it was the perfect timing of a large wave that rocked the ship and his forceful momentum throwing him forward, maybe he couldn't see because of the heavy downpour, or maybe even the deck was slippery, but all Akane knew was that he had lost his footing. He flew towards the railing and his hips harshly slammed into them, Akane staring with complete shock as she could make out his figure flipping overboard.

 

And maybe it was the instinct of the captain inside of her to save a crew mate when they fell overboard, or maybe even a part of her that was terrified of losing someone else over a circumstantial death right in front of her that had sent her flying over the railing after the Devil Fruit user.

 

She heard shouts above her of some of the crew members who had seen her jump off the railing before she hit the freezing water and pierced through the icy surface. The cold water bit at her skin, the current tossed her body around, and she fought to keep control over her numbing limbs.

 

She shut her eyes tightly and used her Observation Haki, sensing Ace was already sinking somewhere below her. She swam downward quickly, using bursts of haki from her palms to push her forward. Ace's limp body came into view and she hastily grabbed onto him, wrapping both her arms around his larger frame.

 

Without the use of her arms, she was left to only propel herself back up to the surface with her powerful legs. Her lungs were burning and even with the use of her Haki bursts to the bottom of her feet, the heavy deadweight in her arms was pulling her down like an anchor. She couldn't last with this amount of air for much longer.

 

 _5..._ She could see the surface far off in her vision, her whole body was burning for oxygen. _4..._ The body in her arms began to slip. Ace's weight was dragging both of them down. _3..._ Just as Ace was about to fall from her arms, he wrapped his arms around her neck with all the might he could muster up while in sea water. _2..._ Able to use her arms, she thrust Haki through both her palms and the bottoms of her feet, every fiber in her body on fire inside the freezing water. Her lungs were about to burst as she hit the surface. _1..._ She had made it just in time. She started gasping for air, the body clinging onto her doing the same as well.

 

Akane didn't have long to recover before the waves on the surface were thrashing her around with Ace in tow. The rain wasn't as heavy as it was when the storm first started so she could see as the Moby Dick was moving farther and farther from them by the waves. Panic began to rise in her throat, her chest still heaving for air.

 

“Get on m-my back...” She said through gasps.

 

Silently complying, he slowly shifted around from her front to her back and held on to her shoulders. The sea water was draining him of almost all his strength and he so desperately wanted to get out of it. He hated how weak this could make him. His mind felt foggy...

 

The rain was slowing and the waves were beginning to calm again. God how she hated New World weather. With her limbs numb from the cold and exhaustion, she began to swim towards the Moby Dick as best as she could. The storm had well stopped by then and she could see crew members looking over the railings trying to spot the pair.

 

She neared the ship that had also taken measures to get closer to retrieve the overboard two. The pirates on board rushed out of sight, returning with a rope ladder. She let out a shuddering sigh at the relieved fact that the nightmare would be over soon.

 

The body on her back began to stir and Ace grunted weakly, “Y-You...” But whatever he was going to say to her died on his lips as his head slumped against the back of hers.

 

“S-Stop t-talking, idiot.”

 

The pirates called out to her to grab onto the rope ladder and that they would pull the both of them up. She held the ropes with a vice grip when Ace's weight began to pull down on her as they were raised from the water. She felt like Ace weighed about three times as much as than when she held him underwater.

 

As her knuckles brushed the top of the railing, she used her strength to latch onto the wood, one hand at a time. When she had a good grip, she swung her and Ace over the railing with the last bit of her strength, falling painfully onto the deck.

 

Ace rolled off of her with his strength returning to him. He lay on his back, limbs sprawled, and chest heaving as his senses were starting to kick up again. _She saved him._ He started to let out weak, airy gasps of laughter at the absurdity of it all. _She saved him._ The tiny little shrimp lugged him out of the water on her back. Ace grinned. He thought they were getting along for the sake of it, but... she had jumped into the water after him. The act of heroism wasn't lost on him.

 

Completely numb and frozen, Akane lay on the deck gasping for air as she shut her eyes. She felt a soft material fall on her face and she lifted a hand to it, realizing it was a very large towel. Swiping it off her face, she was met with the sight of Marco and a few other commanders (minus the soaked second division commander) standing around her in a circle, grinning. The sight was kind of creepy, but the men surrounding her wouldn't stop smiling and snickering.

 

“What?” Her voice was raspy and airy.

 

Marco crouched beside her and smiled down at her, “You're an interesting one yoi.”

 

And then it dawned on her that she just saved one of the pirates. He wasn't a crew mate of hers, she wasn't his captain, he was hardly even her _friend_ , and she had saved him. A weak smile twitched on her lips as she turned her head to look at Ace lying across from her, “L-looks like... you owe _m-me_ now, huh.”

 

“C'mon let's get you dried up.” Marco grabbed both her biceps and gently lifted her to her shaking feet.

 

Her body was trembling in its frozen state. The waters of this particular area were freezing and could very well have killed her if they stayed underneath it for too long. She shakily looked over to Ace. The man still lying on the floor didn't seem nearly as frozen as her. Fire user. Warm. _Right_.

 

The storm was gone and the sun was shining down again. The majority of the pirates headed below deck for breakfast since the abrupt weather sobered them up from their hangovers and awakened their stomachs. Even Whitebeard (with the nurses following to get him hooked up to the machines again) headed down to eat breakfast with his sons. Only two lone figures headed the opposite direction, down to the sleeping quarters.

 

Marco had a warm arm wrapped around the young woman, guiding her to his room to get her dried up and give her not-completely-soaked clothes. As they reached his quarters, he sat her down on the bed with the towel wrapped snugly around her.

 

He went through a wardrobe that held many of his unused clothes and picked out a random pair of hoodie and capris. Marco walked back towards the shivering girl sitting on his bed and set the clothes beside her.

 

Akane looked up at him, her face pale and lips purple. He sighed and took the towel off her shoulders and began drying her hair.

 

Her voice was trembling and soft spoken, “W-why are y-you-”

 

Still massaging her scalp with the towel, he cut her off, “I was told to keep an eye on you yoi.” He dropped the towel on the bed, handed her his old clothes, and walked to the other side of the room, turning around to give her privacy.

 

Marco could hear shuffling and stumbling behind him as the girl attempted to put the dry clothes on. As he waited, Marco thought about what she did during the storm. Of course he was grateful she had saved Ace, but... “Why did you do it?”

 

The shuffling stopped for a moment of contemplation before resuming again. He heard a quiet voice from behind him speak up.

 

“Instinct I g-guess... adrenaline m-maybe? F-fight or flight?” The girl sounded unsure, even to her own ears. The truth was that she didn't know why she had done it. It was an impulsive action, one she couldn't control.

 

Akane finished putting on the new clothes he had given to her. She instantly felt warmer now that she was dried off. She now wore black, khaki-like shorts that hugged her hips nicely but were baggy for the rest of their length down to her ankles. He had given her a red, cotton jacket that had a zipper as well. She tried to zip it up but her fingers were shaking too much to connect the two ends of it.

 

Hearing no more movements behind him, he tested the waters. “Are you done?”

 

“U-uh I- uh...”

 

He took a cautious peek over his shoulder, curiosity getting the better of him, and saw that the girl was struggling to zip up the jacket, unfortunately leaving the front of her torso fully visible. He briefly considered if it would have been a better idea to stay turned around and wait till her fumbling fingers finally finished their task, but he walked over to her anyway.

 

He took in the sight of the girl's torso with inadvertent curiosity. She was fit. Her taut, abdomen muscles twitched from the cold. His eyes unintentionally peeked at her breasts for a moment, the curves neither too small or well-endowed. Prying his slightly wider-than-usual eyes away, he cleared his throat.

 

Akane looked up at him with high eyebrows and embarrassed eyes. If her blood wasn't frozen in her veins at the moment, she was sure she would have been adorning a red hue across her cheeks. She again thanked Natalia for giving her back her bra. It at least covered her breasts from the man. His hands reached out to her, grabbing the two sides of the zipper and connected them. As he pulled up the zipper, his knuckles feathered over the frozen skin of her chest, sending painfully cool goosebumps over her shivering skin.

 

After zipping up the jacket, his hands went to his hips as he assessed the girl. Although her condition looked definitely better, her body was still much paler than it usually was. Pops would have his head if she got frostbite.

 

He walked over to the head of the bed and pulled the covers off the pillows. He wrapped one arm across the girls stomach and pulled her onto the mattress, covering her with the thick fluffy blanket.

 

“W-what-”

 

“Just stay here and rest, I'll come check up on you later yoi.”

 

Her trembling, purple lips formed a pout, “But I've been s-sleeping for days...” It almost sounded like a whine. It upset her. She felt like she was sleeping her life away. Damn that Fire Fist for being horribly idiotic and throwing himself overboard!

 

He gave her a reassuring smile, “You don't have to sleep yoi. Just stay here and warm up.”

 

Admittedly, the covers felt delightful against her freezing skin and she unwillingly began snuggling comfortably underneath them. Marco let out a small chuckle at the sight and began to walk out of the room. Opening the door, he looked back at her, “Don't leave until I say so.” As he was about to leave, she called out to him.

 

“P-Phoenix,”

 

“Hm?”

 

“I lost the s-shoes in the water.”

 

He rolled his eyes and began to leave the room. He quietly closed the door and began to head towards the galley for breakfast. In the back of his mind he knew she wouldn't leave the comfort of the bed.

 

Akane was left in the room alone. She stared up at the wooden ceiling and sighed. She rolled on her side and threw the covers over her head, becoming only a small ball under the thick blanket. As the remnants of her adrenaline began to cease, her trembling was less violent as well. Her body started to relax.

 

Her mind went back to when she saw Fire Fist flip over the railings. It had scared her, it wasn't even a mild reaction. It had _terrified_ her. The thought of losing someone else over a death so circumstantial had thrown her body into action before her mind knew what was going on. It pumped adrenaline into her coursing veins and had given her strength, speed, and alertness she didn't know she had possessed. The trauma she had experienced watching her mother die when she was younger and not being able to do anything to stop it... apparently still burrowed somewhere inside her. What she had done had proven that.

 

Akane rolled onto her back again, frustrated. She had made sure that she would never look back on what had happened to her mother and her island ever since she joined the Navy that day. She wanted to start fresh. New.

 

She toyed with the necklace hanging around her neck as she contemplated. So if she did still have this underlying trauma somewhere inside her... why hadn't it acted up before? Was it because none of her crew members were Devil Fruit users? But the thought of Ace not being able to swim in sea water hadn't crossed her mind when she jumped in after him. Was it possible she made herself believe she held a deeper connection with Ace than her crewmates?

 

Fed up and irritated, Akane curled up under the covers again, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. It smelled like Marco. The bed was warm and soft and comforting and it eased her mind. Despite her numbed body, she couldn't sleep. She had slept far too much over the last few days and her mind was unwilling to rest. So she lay there under the covers and meditated, clearing her mind. Time melted away as she slipped into utter clarity.

* * *

 

Marco entered the large hall halfway through breakfast. He grabbed a plate and filled it with the different foods served for the morning and walked over to check up on Pops.

 

Whitebeard liked joining his sons for meals. He had his own wooden chair at the mess hall since the small benches wouldn't fit his large frame. The nurses were around him, trying to set up those _damn_ tubes again. He watched as one of his sons came up across from him, “How is the girl?”

 

“She's fine, left 'er to rest a bit yoi.”

 

“Did she say why she saved Ace?”

 

“She said it was instinct.” Marco shrugged. He knew there was probably more to it but decided it wasn't the right time to insist on asking her.

 

“Gurarara, that brat is a strange one. Picking a fight with my son and then saving him.”

 

Marco smiled, “I'm gonna go talk to Ace.”

 

“Well do, Marco.”

 

Marco got up from the floor and walked over to where he spotted Ace sitting with the other commanders, his chest sprawled out across the table and resting his head on one of his outstretched arms.

 

Marco sat beside him, propping his elbows up and leaning his back against the table edge. He ruffled Ace's wet hair, snapping him out of his thoughts.

 

“Huh? Oh, Marco.”

 

“Were you expecting someone else?” He said, smirking playfully.

 

Ace rolled his eyes, “Is she alright?”

 

“For the most part. Gave her some of my clothes and let her rest in my bed.” He watched as his little brother's eye twitched ever so slightly. Marco suppressed a laugh. He knew how Ace was. Protective. Hot-headed. Determined. Possessive. All wrapped up with a little bow of tunnel vision issues. Marco didn't know what was at the core of Ace's one track mind, but he knew that he had it and now that Miss Akane had saved Ace from drowning, she might become the center of it. He shook his head. Marco could already see it now; Ace tailing behind the girl with a faux scowl to hide his interest, getting irritated when someone would pull her away from him, getting upset when she had other things to do and find ways to involve himself into her day.

 

But the slightly obsessive behaviour wasn't anything new. Ace had displayed it a couple times in the year that Marco has known him. The most obvious being his insistent determination to take Pops head when he was first on the ship, or how he would always talk about his younger brother when he could. Marco also recalled that one time when they were docked on an island and Ace had taken an interest in one of the forest beasts, following it around and picking fights with the poor thing. Marco had no idea how Ace's psyche worked, but he knew there was something that bothered Ace and pushed him towards that sort of behaviour.

 

After receiving silence as an answer, he tried to spark up the conversation again, “You should at least thank the girl yoi.”

 

Ace turned his head away from Marco and muttered, “Why should I? Anyone could have saved me.”

 

“No, we couldn't have. Ace, most of us didn't even know you went overboard until we saw Miss Akane swimming back to the ship with you.” Ace still refused to face him. “You could have _died,_ Ace.”

 

Ace sat up with a grim look on his face. He heaved a sigh and got up from the table and walked out of the room without saying another word.

 

Marco rubbed his temples at Ace's stubbornness. The other commanders at the table who were silent up until then began snickering.

 

“It would seem that little Acey has something on his mind.” A man in a kimono chimed in.

 

Thatch let out a hearty laugh, “You've got that right Izou.”

* * *

 

Akane was in a state of trance. Her mind was cleared and she was still, yet she wasn't asleep either. Her eyes shot open under the covers when she heard a knock at the door.

 

“Phoenix?” Her voice had regained its normal valor after snuggling in the warm covers for awhile. She lifted her head out of the covers and stared at the door. It slowly opened and, to her surprise, Ace's head popped in. Her jaw clenched when she saw him. She was still battling with herself over what had caused her to go after the man to their possible deaths when they weren't even comrades.

 

“Hey.” Ace grabbed a chair from Marco's desk and dragged it to the bedside. “How're you feeling?”


	5. Lover's Quarrel

* * *

 

_Never wanted to feel._ __  
_Never wanted you to steal my heart._ __  
_Never wanted you to know._ __  
_Never wanted to show I'm weak._ __  
  
_I'm falling all over myself,_ __  
_Trying to be someone else._ __  
_I wish you would dare to walk me home,_ _  
_ _So I wouldn't have to feel alone._

_**Heart** \- The Pretty Reckless_

* * *

It had been a week since her full conscious day on the Moby Dick. Akane was sitting on the railing of the ship observing a numerous amount of Whitebeard Pirates training their hand to hand combat on the sun deck. It had surprised her at first when she heard of it, never had she thought that pirates would actually take time out of their day to have a training regimen. But contrary to her thought, there they were, a good fifty pirates recently recruited over the past two months, under the watch of the commanders on board and Whitebeard himself.

 

That was another thing she had learned during her week full of mayhem; out of all sixteen commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates, only seven were on the Moby Dick at any given time. Though 'only' wouldn't be the right word considering each division had around one hundred members. Thatch was the one who had explained it to her when she brought up the lack of presence of the other known commanders. The divisions were split up into four groups, seven on the Moby Dick, and three on each sister ship. He also pointed out to her that the divisions would rotate every several months except for the first and second divisions to keep a good amount of static crew members on the ship.

 

Speaking of second division commander, Akane couldn't help but get a headache at the way he was acting lately. His actions were more than contradictory to say the least and his constant mixed signals made her confused on how to handle him.

 

Her swinging foot absentmindedly stroked the fur of the massive white fluff ball that lay on the deck below her. When she first ran into Stefan a few days back, it was unexpected so she nearly freaked. The large dog liked her well enough though, so the quiet company was nice. She pet the dog with her foot as she recounted the conversation she had with Ace several days back.

 

_Ace sat down on the chair beside the head of the bed. Akane looked at him warily, she was more than exhausted and she didn't really want to deal with the center of her issues at the moment._

 

“ _I'm feeling fine, a bit frozen, but I'll thaw out eventually.”_

 

_He breathed a chuckle, “Good to hear.” But then, Ace's features slowly morphed into a serious expression, brows furrow and mouth taut, “Listen.” The cold tone surprised her a bit and she tilted her head on the pillow to look him in the eyes. “If you think I'm going to thank you for saving me, I won't. We made a silent agreement to get along but that doesn't mean we're comrades. I spared your life back on the island and now you saved mine, so we're even.”_

 

_Akane lay in utter shock before burning hot anger slowly seeped into her veins. He was utterly and completely ungrateful to her. She was a marine and she saved a pirate-- him to be precise, and he was ungrateful to her. Akane could also have pointed out that there was a large gap between sparing and saving a life, but before she could furiously retort at the asshole, he got up from the chair and left the room with a loud shut of the door._

 

He had said that but...

 

“Yo!”

 

She was joined on her perch on the railing by said pirate, grinning at her. His behaviour perplexed her in ways she had never known possible and no matter how much she analyzed him she couldn't understand what on Earth was going on in that brain of his. Ace had acted cold to her and she was more than ready to avoid him for the rest of the trip to the next island, but when Marco deemed her healthy enough to get out of bed, she was met with a friendly Ace greeting her when she had gone above deck. Skip to now, a week later, and his behaviour had not let up a bit. Akane frowned, it seemed he was just playing her as a fool.

 

“So? How do you find the little training boot camp we have?” He asked in a playful tone.

 

Akane scoffed, he called this a training camp? “It's not even nearly half as tough as the Navy _entry_ examination.”

 

“Oh?” A light frown on his lips, “Are you suggesting some marine grunt could take down one of our men?”

 

She huffed, “I'm not suggesting, I _know_. But then again, all the better for us, so don't mind me. Keep 'training' your men.” She wore a sly smirk. Maybe not any foot soldier could take on one of the new Whitebeard Pirates, but she knew for sure that any man on her crew could take down most of the guys she was observing at the moment.

 

A loud bark of laughter came from her side and she whipped her head to glare at a hysterical Ace.

 

“That's the funniest thing you've said yet Red!” Ah, that was another thing. Instead of ever referring to her by her name, he opted to giving her a stupid name.

 

“Would you stop calling me that Cowboy?” She had easily retorted his name calling with one of her own, reminiscent of his horrendous hat.

 

His laughter stopped and he wore the same annoyed look he did whenever she used the nickname on him. “Stop calling me that, I'm a pirate. And I bet _you_ couldn't even take down one of our men.”

 

It was her turn to let out roars of laughter, so intense in fact, that she almost fell backwards off the railing into the water below her. “I stood my own against you and you're telling me I can't take down one of your subordinates?”

 

A playful smirk crossed his lips, “Who said I went against you at full power?” He hopped off the railing and started walking to the middle of the deck, the pirates stopping their practice to look at him. The commanders and Whitebeard were eying him as well, and as for a certain red-head, well, she had an idea of what the idiot was planning.

 

“Listen up! Red here told me that she could take down all of you without a sweat, that sounds like a challenge to me.”

 

Akane's face morphed into a heavy glare. He twisted her words more than a little and the last thing she needed was for the crew to start hating her.

 

Yes, ever since her rescue of Ace, the crew had been treating her quite cordially to say the least. Sometimes she even forgot that she was stuck on this ship with no choice in the matter. If he were to bring something like this up and put a dent in their 'manly pride' -she rolled her eyes- she worried they weren't going to treat her that way for much longer.

 

Murmurs were heard all around the deck as the growing knowledge of what was about to happen slowly dawned on everyone.

 

“So, how about for today's training we have a duel. Red versus all of you.” A confident smirk plastered itself on the Second Division Commanders face. Meanwhile, the commanders and captain were observing the entire ordeal.

 

“Ho...” Marco knew Ace was one for silly ideas but this...

 

Whitebeard looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking, drawing all attention on deck towards him. “An interesting proposal. I'd like to see the extent of girlie's power as well.” He had never seen her fight yet and Whitebeard wanted to see for himself what the potential power of the red-haired girl was to had gone against one of his strongest sons.

 

One of Ace's subordinates looked warily at him, “But Ace... she could beat you up, is that really a good idea?”

 

Roars of laughter resounded from the entire deck and Ace's face turned a shade of red. Even Akane couldn't hold back a peel of laughter at the comment. At least they had it in good mind not to underestimate her.The way Fire Fist had implied that he really _had_ gone easy on her confirmed her previous suspicions and kind of pissed her off. Granted, she probably would be long dead by now if he hadn't, but knowing that she still lost to him regardless sucked.

 

“I think it's a brilliant idea. Now get over here brat.” Though everyone could hear Whitebeard loud and clear, his attention was directed across the deck from him at the girl sitting delicately on the railings swinging her legs with his dog resting at her feet.

 

She knew it wasn't in her best interest to complain to the giant man, she was merely a 'guest' on the ship after all. Akane hopped over Stefan as she got off her perch and sauntered her way to the center of the deck to the middle of a circle of pirates eyeballing her, but she only kept her eyes on the man who had addressed her.

 

“Fine. I'll do it, but I won't hold back. None of you come complaining to me when you get injuries.” She looked around her, the 'you' being the fifty pirates she was being more or less forced to fight. She was confident enough. Having observed their skills they weren't anything too special. Most of them were around the same level as marine seamen, maybe some were at ensign or commander level, but nothing she couldn't handle. Still, she never faced fifty opponents all at once. It would definitely be a way for her to test how skilled she had gotten as well. Still... “But I have conditions.” Everyone looked to her, “None of you can use any weapons of any sort. You also can not pull, tug, or rip my clothing or hair in any way. That's cheating.” She held up a finger, stressing the point.

 

One of the many pirates around her spoke up, “Even so, we can't fight a girl wearing a dress.”

 

“Oh hush up and stop making excuses. I made that kimono myself and custom built it to her frame. I made sure that it would give her just as much mobility and flexibility as any pair of pants would.” Izou, the Sixteenth Divison Commander spoke up, arms crossed.

 

Akane gave a cheeky smile to the man as she began to tie up her hair, she had definitely taken a liking to him. He was one of the few who didn't treat her too delicately but at the same time was kind to her.

 

_Four days had passed since the day she had fished Ace out of the freezing waters below. The majority of the crew had been treating her nicely, very nicely, in fact it was almost kind of creepy how a crew of pirates could be so kind to her, especially considering she was a marine. But the fact that she was a Marine seemed to have left most of their minds and a lot of them treated her like she was part of their crew, something Akane didn't take too well. Don't get her wrong, she was grateful they were treating her well, but she didn't want to be or act like part of their crew. She didn't want them to get the wrong idea and_ treat _her like part of their crew, she assured herself that she didn't_ need _a replacement family, and certainly not them to fill the slot._

 

_She leaned on the railing of the ship and sulked, glaring at the wooden flooring when a shadow began to appear on the planks. She looked up to find Izou walking toward her. He was formally introduced to her as the Sixteenth Divison Commander (not that she didn't know that), and he seemed to be one of the only few crew members to hold a stern look around her._

 

“ _What are you doing?” The low tenor voice reverberated in her ears. She had seen his wanted poster many times but she never pictured his voice to be so... masculine? It was an innocent assumption on her part, she always thought his voice would be a bit more feminine considering the way he crossdressed and wore makeup. Since their first meeting however, she swore to never assess someone fully before meeting them in person._

 

“ _Oh, the usual.” She replied, a wry smile playing on her lips._ _Being on a ship without having any duties was extremely boring._

 

_He tsked at her and grabbed her wrist, leading her to the sleeping quarters, “If you're not doing anything, then I've been meaning to give you something.”_

 

_Not knowing how to respond, she let him lead her silently to his private cabin. That was another thing she had learned on the ship. All the Commanders were granted their own bedrooms whereas normal shipmates had to sleep in massive bunk rooms. The room she was occupying during her little stay on the ship was supposedly used as one of the many private resting rooms in the sick bay._

 

_As they entered the room he let go of her wrist, walking over to a chest and taking out a measuring tape and a fabric that looked very expensive._

 

“ _Strip.”_

 

“ _E-excuse me?” She squeaked out. The bold order caught her off guard and sent blood rushing to her face, out of embarrassment or anger she didn't know._

 

_He sighed irritatingly at her, as if she hadn't a right to be so surprised at the request. “I'm going to make you something nice. A cute young girl like you wearing dingy, old, baggy man clothing is such a waste. Now strip.”_

 

“ _O-oh...?” The whole situation was something she never had to deal with before._

 

_But before she could get the gears in her brain working again, she was stripped down to her matching black pair of bra and panties. If the man in front of her had reacted in a way of interest, which he had not, she would have been filled with embarrassment. She had never been so naked in front of a man before, but his professional attitude had negated the effect so she let him do as he pleased, letting him wrap the tape around different sections of her body._

 

_After a few hours of laying on the fluffy bed awkwardly, almost completely nude, the man stood up from his work and strode to her, carrying a folded piece of fabric in his hand. “Stand up.”_

 

“ _Okay.” Itching to put some clothing on, she stood up and he began to dress her in the eloquent pink noil silk._

 

_She stood in front of the full-body mirror he had in his room, drinking in her own appearance. It was stunning, it made_ her _look stunning. The cherry blossom pink silk hugged her curves and where she had muscles, the fabric flowed over her skin, giving her a more delicate appearance._

 

“ _This is... This is incredible. You made this so quickly too. I... I don't know what to say.”_

 

“ _Don't. And Consider it a skill. Let's just say it's a thank you gift for saving my little brother and leave it at that.” Though the air of the comment was curt, Izou wore a soft smile on his face._

 

_Needless to say when she walked back up to the deck she received a different type of attention by the crew members. It was as if they hadn't realized she was a woman up until now or something... She wasn't used to this kind of attention happening to her since in life her daily wardrobe mostly consists of issued marine uniforms. Of course, not that dressing in more masculine clothing was a bad thing, it was just that Akane didn't mind wearing something utterly beautiful and feminine every once in awhile; it made butterflies flutter in her stomach._

 

Akane slipped her arms out of the silky sleeves and let the fabric rest at her waist, revealing a black tank top she wore underneath. “You heard him. Now stop being pansies and fight like men.” She taunted despite not really liking the term, knowing that it would wound their ego. If Fire Fist wanted to provoke her into a fight, she'd show him what she was made of.

 

“Well then,” Ace who was standing beside her up until then, began to walk away, “guess we're all set.” He smirked and joined the rest of the commanders off to the side. Sure she could hold her ground against him for a measly hour when he was trying to buy time for the crew, but this was different. Though her opponents are much weaker this time than he was, there are large amounts of them. It's a fight that requires a completely different skill than his fight had, and he was confident enough that the girl wouldn't win.

 

All the commanders on board, Marco, Ace, Vista, Jozu, Thatch, Blenheim, and Izou stared intently at the gathering at the center of the deck. The air was thick around the crowd as the impending fight would soon come upon them.

 

Akane breathed in deeply and closed her eyes, digging deep into her sense of spirit to seek out her confidence and willpower. Vice Admiral Garp had taught her to do so. That the strength of ones haki relied directly on ones willpower and confidence in themselves. He told her that the weak-hearted could never use haki because haki came straight from ones heart.

 

She opened her eyes again, completely relaxed, and shifted into a fighting stance, her eyes half-lidded and serious. The air around her was tense and everyone was waiting for some sort of initiation, and she gave it to them; a small twitch of a smirk.

 

And so, the fight started. Most of the opponents were weaker than her but there were a lot of them. She had to keep her mind completely clear and meditated to avoid all the attacks. A lot of them were surprised when they couldn't land a hit on her, the her body fluidly evading punches and kicks from the crowd around her.

 

It continued for a good minute, different pirates rushing up to lay a punch on her but the girl gracefully would side-step, twirl, or duck away from the attacks, like a dance of combat. It seemed none of them could touch her while she was using her Observation Haki. It was one thing to read someones attack, but if her opponent was faster than her (which they weren't), the haki would have been more than useless.

 

That stage of the fight was brought to an abrupt stop when instead of dodging an attack, she blocked it with her forearm. The pirates around her faltered in their movements and stared in awe as one of the burliest men charging her had his punch blocked.

 

She grabbed as much of his meaty wrist as her hand could wrap around and swung him in a circle once, knocking away the closer pirates, and then threw him out of the fighting circle. Everyone watched, as the large man landed in a pile of crates a good fifteen meters away from the action.

 

Whitebeard stared at the girl intently, calculating. Akane was definitely no ordinarily trained marine soldier, that was an easy to decipher fact. A cheeky, toothy grin tugged at his lips as he watched the fight. It was almost as if she had a natural talent for haki control.

 

Armament was her favourite out of the two hakis. It empowered her and gave her strength, it was exhilarating. One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes. The seconds ticked by as she thoroughly distributed a hearty punch, kick, knee, or elbow to any opponent who got near her. She simultaneously used Observation and Armament Haki to tear down the pirates.

 

The smirk on Ace's lips was long gone and replaced with a frown. She was doing a lot better than he had expected her to. It seemed she was extremely skilled with the use of both hakis, something he hadn't been aware of. He knew she could use them during their own fight, but back then she seemed a lot more on edge... less confident.

 

Five minutes later and the deck was covered with heaps of limbs sprawled out all over, fifty pirates groaning from either humiliation or pain. In the middle stood a small figure, arms crossed, with a sly smirk in place. By the time the fight was over, many of the ships occupants had made their way to the deck to observe the fight.

 

The commanders that were off to the side watching the fight all either wore knowing smiles or no expression at all.

 

“She didn't take more than five steps from the place she had started at!” A laughing, grinning, Thatch exclaimed.

 

“An interesting spectacle indeed.” A thoughtful looking Vista chimed in as well.

 

“Gurarara! Get up and dust yourselves off you brats! Marco, make sure to give them punishment training for losing against only one marine later. We'll need to toughen all of you up.” Just as he thought, the girl was skilled for her age. He knew she had a long way to go though.

 

More groans from the deck were heard as the pirates solemnly stood up.

 

“Well? Satisfied, Cowboy?” Akane said, smiling at Ace.

 

The rest of the commanders snickered as a flustered, scowling Ace covered his eyes his the tip of his hat.

 

Akane slipped her arms through the sleeves and adjusted the fabric of the kimono so it sat nicely. She heard footsteps coming towards her and she looked up from her work. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she was met with the towering frame of Whitebeard only a good three meters away from her. She had never been in such close proximity to the giant man as of yet and it still made her feel quite uneasy.

 

Although of course, she wasn't nearly as terrified as she was when she was first placed in front of his large throne for him to judge what to do with her life. Over the past week he had made it routine for Marco to find her wherever she was on the ship and bring her to him. When it first happened her heart nearly stopped, but he had only merely wanted to speak with her. At the end of everyday he would ask her similar questions: how her day was, what she ate, what she did, if she had discovered anything new... Akane was suspicious of the questions at first and she was more than nervous of answering them, but Whitebeard had made it quite obvious that he only wanted to speak with the girl. As their end of day meetings became routine, Akane found that the large man wasn't as menacing as she always thought he would be. Their talks made her feel generally comfortable around the man, something that she figured was his whole plan out of the meetings. No one seemed to know about the talks either, Marco probably knew about it since he was the one who fetched her every night, but that was it.

 

The deep bass voice spoke and snapped her out of her thoughts. Akane craned her neck almost completely vertical to look the man in the face.

 

“Who taught you how to use haki girlie?”

 

“Vice Admiral Garp, sir.” She had gotten a little more open with her life. The young girl would talk about her Navy life if asked, but she still disliked to talk about her personal past to the men she barely knew.

 

A toothy grin made it's way to Whitebeard's lips. That made a lot more sense.

 

Akane jumped when Ace materialized beside her wearing a surprised look. “Gramps trained you?” Ace raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

 

She cringed. Garp beating her up everyday for a year and throwing her into dangerous situations while on missions could hardly be called training. She was thankful to the man for honing in on her skills, though it was only because she feared she would be killed if she hadn't. Maybe that was the whole point of his 'training'. “Don't remind me.” But then she froze, processing what the pirate had just said. Her eyes widened and she turned to face Ace, “Did you just say Gramps?”

 

Ace looked as if he knew he had just said something he wasn't supposed to let slip out. He looked away from the dumbfounded girl and scratched his cheek. “Ah... yeah. Garp's my gramps.”

 

Akane moved her mouth to utter words but nothing came out. “H-how- but- why- no, what?” Her voice rose to higher pitches at the revelation.

 

“Well not by blood, he's my brother's Gramps but he's still mine too.”

 

The nonsensical logic in the reply made her head hurt. “If he's your brother's Grandad than he's your blood relat-- wait. Then does that mean you and your brother are the two brats Garp always talked about?” She said the last part with a disbelieving laugh. She had heard countless stories during her training with Garp about two snot-nosed grandsons.

 

His eyes widened, “Gramps talked about me and Luffy?”

 

Akane's jaw slackened, Luffy... she heard that name before. He couldn't possibly mean... “You mean that rookie is your brother?” The ridiculousness of it all made her laugh, “You and Strawhat Luffy used to get beat up by Garp... your grandad...” She couldn't believe it, not one bit. “Though he never told me the names of the two boys,” Ace looked at her like he regretted giving her the information, “I've heard an awful lot of embarrassing stories about them. I even pitied the poor kids.” A mischievous smirk played on her lips as she walked closer towards Ace, “But knowing it's you, well, Cowboy, it seems I have much more on you than I thought.”

 

Whitebeard, who was standing close and observing the spectacle let out a hearty laugh. “Then why don't we all head down to the galley for dinner and girlie can tell us stories about little Ace.” Ace would confide in him about his life, but he had never been told stories about encounters with Garp. This seemed like a good opportunity to learn a little more about his son.

 

As everyone on deck began to file out below deck, chuckling and snickering at Ace's ordeal, Ace himself was frozen in place. Sweat formed on his brow and he swallowed harshly, “ _Shit_.” He ran through the crowd that was making its way to the stairs and caught sight of a small red-head. He strode up to her and grabbed her upper arm, halting her, “Red I swear if you speak even a word about anything stupid I'll--”

 

“You'll what? Force me into a fight? Too late, you've already done that.” She turned around to face him fully and wore a smug smirk, “It's my turn to play now, Cowboy.” And with that, she melted into the crowd disappearing, from sight.

 

He really screwed himself over on this one.

* * *

The pirates had long finished eating and were now surrounding Akane who was sitting on one of the many table tops in the galley.

 

Ace sat at the other side of the room, face on the table and arms covering his head. His face was red with anger and embarrassment as that damned Red kept going on and on about the stories she heard. It was humiliating to say the least and he tried to intervene more than once, but he was only thrown out of the gathered circle and away from the speaker.

 

Laughter erupted from the crowd around the girl and Ace sank further down into his seat. He was a kid! Of course he would have been flustered in front of girls!

 

“Acey!”

 

“Aww Ace is blushing!”

 

He had just about had it with the teasing. He got out of the bench and strode angrily out of the mess hall, whines and calls being heard behind him.

 

When he reached the deck, the cold night air blew against his heated face and instantly cooled him down. He slowed down his pace and walked over to the massive whale figurehead and jumped up onto it. Ace took a seat cross-legged and sulked as he stared out at the sea ahead.

 

He huffed a sigh and rocked his body weight, making himself fall on his back. His fingers intertwined behind his head and substituted for a pillow as he stared at the millions of stars in the sky.

 

The girl knew a lot more about his past then a lot of his crew members did. Of course she had no idea she did until he had stupidly pointed it out to her, but... she did. The longer the girl stayed on the ship the closer he felt that he would lose his sanity. The past week that she's been walking around the ship, he'd been on edge. It was almost as if most of his crewmates had forgotten she was a marine... sometimes he caught himself forgetting that fact too.

 

His fingers dug into his wavy locks. He just didn't get her at all. When he watched her, she'd always grin and laugh sweetly when she was around a group of pirates, but when she thought no one was around, her face would morph into that of irritability. After the first couple times he saw that reoccur, he had come to the conclusion that she was only acting nicely in hopes of getting off the ship in good terms. But when he spoke to her... her grins looked so honest and her laughs so genuine, it was impossible to believe it was all just an act. Ace knew there was more to it and it frustrated him to no end. The girl had a magnetic pull and he wanted to know more about her, wanted to know why she acted the way she did, but whenever questions like that arose she'd manage to slyly change the subject.

 

“ _As long as I'm on a ship out on the freedom of the sea, I don't care who I'm with.”_

* * *

The pirates around her were in absolute hysterics. Something about telling them all of Ace's childhood embarrassing stories gave her satisfaction. The man would always frustrate her with his own antics so it felt good to finally get back at him. Plus, she was hitting two birds with one stone considering it just made the pirates like her more.

 

An arm wrapped around her shoulders and she looked to see the appendage's owner.

 

“Oh man! Miss Akane you have to tell us more! I never knew little Ace could be such a riot!” Thatch said in a bubbly tone, his other hand clutching his stomach.

 

Akane giggled and was about to tell more when she looked at the doorway. So he still hadn't come back... Maybe she had tread too deep into dangerous waters.

 

“I'd love to, but I think I should check up on a certain crew member.” She grinned and hopped off the table, “I should leave some stories for some other time!”

 

It was already nightfall when she reached the deck, stars dancing in the sky. Akane made a quick scout of the area but couldn't seem to spot a certain outrageous hat anywhere. So she began walking around, hoping to spot it's owner. “Fire Fist?” She called out, but no reply. “Fire Fist?” Nothing. “Fi-re-fist--!” Still none. “Cowboy--!” She had learned the best way to get him to reply was to be annoying enough that he'd tell her to...

 

“Would you shut the hell up!”

 

Ah, so he was on the figurehead. She hopped up the steps to the massive whale head and saw Ace laying down looking up at the sky. He continued to ignore her as she sat down next to his lying form.

 

“So?”

 

“Just coming to check on you.” She said with a hum and a chuckle.

 

“Well you've checked. Leave me alone.” He spat out irritated.

 

Her lower lip slightly jutted out at that, “Aw c'mon, I was just getting back at you! You've been trying to pry about my life this entire week, it was just a little payback.”

 

Ace's jaw clenched at the whine. So she had noticed what he was doing through his facade. He sat up and let out a frustrated sigh.

 

“Don't tell me you thought I would actually fall for that happy act.” She looked at him sternly, “You know, a lot of the crew here at least holds a smidge of respect for me as a human being. You think I'm stupid enough to fall for some cheap act, you think I can't beat a bunch of rookie pirates, and you still haven't even shown a slither of gratitude towards me for saving your life.” She could see a pair of dark eyes glaring at her through the night, “When we first started to treat each other nicely that day, I thought we both had the same thing in mind, but apparently we didn't. I treat you the way I do because it's politeto, not some cheap trick. I treat you the way I do because I think it's a good idea to look past our fight. I treat you the way I do because I _respect_ you as a person.” She saw the shaded figure looked away from her, “But you? No. You don't act that way to be polite to me, you still hold a grudge about our fight, and you don't respect me as a person at all because I'm a marine. I'm not an idiot. It took me awhile to figure out what you were doing, but I'm not stupid. So stop treating me like one.”

 

“You're wrong.” She could barely hear the muttered whisper.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I said you're wrong!” The night light shone off his eyes and she could see the frustration in them. “The only one who is treating the other like a fool is you!” Akane flinched back from being rebuked. “You think I'm stupid enough to fall for _your_ act? Always smiling and laughing around us and then when no one can see you, you look freakin' pissed? I try to treat you nicely and I try to look past the fact that you're a marine and I _try_ to respect you as a person, but I can't figure out what to think of you! What you said that time we talked, about how you don't care about pirates and marines, you seemed so honest and I believed you, but these past few days I'm not so sure.” His raised voice had fallen to a more quiet tone.

 

She shook her head and spoke calmly, “No, _you're_ wrong Ace.” His eyes widened when he heard his name on her lips. It was the first time she had addressed him with his actual name. “I'm just,” The girl let out a sigh, and began speaking quickly, “It's just that, I'm on a pirate ship and I'm a marine and I'm being treated so nicely by everyone and I don't know why and my life is in the hands of someone else's for the first time ever and I feel like I have to constantly be acting polity or else I'll be pushing my luck and sometimes I just feel a bit anxious, I mean I've never been in a situation even close to this before okay? I'm so used to being in control and having power and being the leader and being able to speak with authority and now I'm thrown onto this ship where I have to adjust the way I present myself completely, because I'm not the captain, I'm not the boss, and I certainly don't hold any power. So I'm sorry if sometimes I stop smiling when I have time to myself, Ace. As much as I try to reassure myself that I'll be more or less safe on this ship, I still feel anxious. Not because I think you guys are evil or anything, but because I feel so damn vulnerable and this entire situation is foreign to me and I'm having trouble getting used to it, and sometimes my act crumbles that's all.”

 

The words whirled out of the girl's mouth before she even knew what she was saying. She never confided in people, not ever. She preferred to deal with her problems on her own. However, she had never had to deal with something like this before and her anxiety had been building up deep inside her the past week. It took its toll on her too. She had been having recurring nightmares every night and it was driving her to the brink of insanity. It was so close to spilling over that she let out all her worries without thinking about it just to release that pressure. Akane bit her lip and looked at the surprised pirate, hoping she hadn't said too much.

 

Ace sat wide-eyed at the girl who just let out the fastest speech he had ever heard. Still trying to process what she had told him, the way she acted, the way she spoke, it all slowly started to make sense. Unless he had understood wrong, he was positive she had just told him that she felt more or less... scared. Ace looked at his hands in his lap as it dawned on him.

 

He had acted stupid, so very stupid. The girl was only trying to be the best she could on the ship so they would spare her life. To them it just felt like there was another guest on board, but the whole situation was a life or death matter in her mind. She was acting that way in hopes of keeping her life, and all he'd done was try to break her act and get her to misstep. On top of all that, she willingly jumped into the water to save him when she could have left him to drown without being blamed for it.

 

He brought a hand to his face as he let out a disheartened chuckle, “I get it.”

 

“You do?” The whisper so quiet he could barely hear it.

 

“Yea, I do.” He looked to her and gently smiled, “Hey, thanks.”

 

She looked down, her scarlet hair hiding her face, “What for?”

 

He stood up and grinned, “For stuff. I think I get you a lot better now Red.”

 

Akane chewed the inside of her cheek. It was the first time she felt so open during her entire stay on the Moby Dick. Everyone was kind to her but they didn't know the anxieties she had felt during her stay, but now that someone did, it didn't seem to bother the one she told at all.

 

Voices could be heard pooling out onto the deck. The two sitting and standing on the figurehead looking over their shoulders to see the crowd of pirates shuffling out from below deck.

 

“Party!” The yell resounded from the crowd and everyone cheered in agreement.

 

Akane smiled and rolled her eyes. She still couldn't understand the concept of their daily parties. She felt a hand wrap around her wrist and she was hoisted up. She looked up to see Ace grinning at her. It wasn't like the ones he had been using all week though, it seemed so genuine and warm.

 

“C'mon, party s'about to start!” Ace ran back to the deck, dragging a stumbling Akane behind him.

 

“N-no, I'm not really—”

 

“You haven't joined in even once since you got stuck on our ship, you have to eventually you know.”

 

“No I don't!”

 

“You do!” He looked over his shoulder to flash her a toothy smile.

 

“There you guys are! Did you guys have a lovers quarrel or something?” Thatch teased as the pair approached.

 

The blood rushed to Akane's face. _Lovers?_ No, certainly not.

 

Ace only laughed it off, “Something like that.”

 

“What?” Akane squeaked out. The sounds of laughter all around echoed in her ears and she hid her face behind her hair. Though embarrassed, she smiled softly at the floor. If this had happened over the past week she would have felt completely humiliated and anxious under her skin, but she knew now that everyone around her was just lighthearted and held genuine kindness to her, now including Ace. Of course, she still couldn't figure out why they were. The reason she was on this ship in the first place was because she was a marine officer who got in a fight with one of Whitebeard's sons. None of them seemed to care too much about it anymore though, and if they did they were good at hiding it. Perhaps it's this way because they aren't afraid of her so they don't treat her like she's dangerous. With the way she was being treated, she couldn't help but feel that when they reached the next island Whitebeard would let her go alive.

 

“Stupid Cowboy! You wish!” She used her foot and pushed his backside forward in a playful manner, the unsuspecting commander falling and letting go of her wrist in the process.

 

Ace fell face first onto the wooden deck. Everyone laughed at him but it died down when they noticed he wasn't moving. Even Akane was a bit worried she might have gone a little overboard, though she knew she hadn't used any real power in the push. When snores were heard from the motionless body, the entire crew just sighed and groaned, then walked away to start their festivities.

 

She had grown accustomed to the man's random sleep attacks as well, considering he'd have at least one or two a day.

 

“Leave him. He hasn't been getting much sleep at night lately, yoi.”

 

“Phoenix?” The girl looked up at him surprised, “What're you still doing here? Aren't you going to go party?”

 

Marco sighed and ruffled the short girl's hair, a thing Akane has noticed was becoming something of habit. “Can't, yoi. I'm on first night watch tonight.” He took his hand out of her hair and pointed to the crows nest above them.

 

“Oh, okay. I won't be sticking around here either,” the red-head turned away from him and began walking the familiar pathway towards her temporary room, “'m gonna go to sleep early tonight.”

 

“Sweet dream Miss Akane.” A cheeky voice called out from behind her.

 

“Night, Phoenix.” She threw a wave over her shoulder as a friendly gesture before disappearing below deck.

 

When she was behind the closed door of her room, Akane kicked off her slip-on shoes and began stripping down as she neared her bed. Thoroughly exhausted after the release of her emotional anxities, the girl collapsed onto the soft mattress and lay face first into the pillow. A lot had happened that day and the weight on her shoulders was much lighter, allowing the girl to fall into a deep sleep void of nightmares.

* * *

Marco stood in the crows nest, leaning against the mast with his arms crossed. Half-lidded, blue eyes quietly observed the waters surrounding the Moby Dick as the Whitebeard festivities continued on below him.

 

Two hours had passed and nothing had come anywhere within eyesight to the Whitebeard ship, as usual. Nothing ever does. The last two decades on the Moby Dick were quite peaceful to say the least. Since the late Pirate King had been executed and Pops was named the strongest, other ships-- pirate and Navy alike, seldom dare to approach the massive whale. There is the odd rookie crew that challenges Pops foolishly every once in awhile, but most people are aware enough to stay away from the strongest pirate crew. Even when they dock on land the world follows a similar order. Heck, islands that aren't under Whitebeard's name peacefully accommodate their requests for supplies out of fear. It had been even more years since the last time Marco pillaged a village, but he doesn't mind though. Attacking civilians and unnecessary destruction weren't particular hobbies for the First Division Commander, never were.

 

Marco straightened up when he saw a speck on the water in the distance. The ship wasn't directly approaching the Moby Dick, more like coming at a diagonal. The night watch walked to the edge of the crows nest and squinted, using his heightened sight to identify the vessel.

 

Navy.

 

Nothing too drastic, just one ship. Quite a small ship to boot.

 

Marco looked down over the railing to spot his Pops sitting at his usual throne. The crew was loud so he had to speak up a bit, “Pops, small Navy ship, ten o'clock.”

 

Some of the celebratory pirates looked up at Marco but most ignored the mundane announcement. One of the pirates, Ace, visibly tensed and scowled.

 

Whitebeard looks thoughtful for a moment before answering, “Unless it comes any closer, leave it be.”

 

“Roger that, yoi.” Marco looks back at the waters and relocates the vessel. In the short time he had his eyes off of it, the Navy ship was already moving away, probably realizing they were in too far over their heads. “It's retreating.”

 

“That's fine.” The ship most likely wasn't anything to worry about, and disrupting the party to attack an enemy who couldn't put up a fight wasn't worth the effort. Though... it could have been something having to do with the red-haired girl on board.

 

“Pops I could go after it on my Striker.” Ace was at his father figure's side in an instant as he gave the suggestion. His tattooed back looked visibly stiff, and the look on his face was... protective.

 

“Leave it be, Ace.” Even if the Navy ship did have something to do with the girl, the events would eventually flow and he would be able to handle it in due time. Besides, stopping whatever the Navy is planning prematurely will deprive him of information that could be needed.

 

Ace looked down and the rim of his orange hat shadowed his features, “Pops... Akane... she doesn't belong with them.”

 

“Stop worrying yourself brat.” Whitebeard took a swig of his sake and dismissed his son.

 

No, the girl definitely doesn't.


	6. I'm a Lot Like You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whitebeard hints to why he had kept Akane aboard the Moby Dick in the first place, and is now preparing for the future confrontation they will have with the Navy.

* * *

 

If you want to _ **,**_ I can save you. _ **  
**_I can take you away from here. _ **  
**_So lonely inside, _ **  
**_So busy out there, _ **  
**_And all ever you wanted was somebody who cares __ **.**

_**All You Wanted** \- Michelle Branch_

* * *

The party last night was one of the occasional few that ended sooner than the usual. Little by little, small groups of pirates were making their way across the deck to head to the galley for breakfast. They had been having generally good weather the past few days aside from a couple storms, so there was nothing to worry about so early in the morning.

 

Marco was one of the many pirates heading down towards breakfast. He wasn't as miserable looking as the other pirates since he had to skip the party and drinking last night in favour of night watch. He entered the mess hall and scouted the quickly filling room. He waved and greeted Pops who was dealing with shooing the nurses away from him, and went along the tables greeting different pirates as he passed by. He looked across the room and spotted a few of the other commanders already half way through their breakfast, but he didn't see Ace anywhere. He made his way to the table and greeted the other commanders.

 

“Mornin'. Have you guys seen Ace?” He said with a wave of his hand.

 

“Still sleeping, I checked. Boy s'been getting less sleep at night than usual lately so I guess he's just refueling or something.” Izou replied.

 

“Ah, I see. Speaking of the guest,” The blonde looked around, “where is she?”

 

The commanders sitting at the table looked at each other and shrugged, continuing their meal.

 

“She's probably still sleeping-- oh! That reminds me, Pops said he wanted to speak to her about something.” Thatch added in.

 

Marco looked a bit surprised. Speak to her? As far as he knew, Pops usually would ask to talk with her at the end of each day, not in the morning. However the young girl _did_ go to sleep earlier than normal last night, so maybe he hadn't gotten the chance. “I'll go fetch her then.”

 

The First Division Commander made his way back to the other end of the ship and reached the sick bay. The girl's temporary bedroom was the last recovery room at the end of the hall. He walked up to the door and knocked. “Miss Akane? You awake?” He spoke through the wooden door, but there was no reply. So she was probably still asleep then. He gently turned the knob and slipped through the door and into the quiet room. He closed it and brought his attention to across the room, and the sight surprised him to say the least.

 

Leading to the bed was a trail of shoes, a kimono, a tank top... and was that a bra? He raised a questioning eyebrow at the sight and made his way to the bed, or the almost-nude form laying on it to be more precise.

 

The young woman was sleeping on top of the provided covers, her body exposed save for the small shorts covering her nether regions. She was lying on her stomach, face down, hugging the pillow underneath her with her long red hair splayed out over her bare back and onto the sheets underneath her.

 

He stared with eyebrows raised at the sight. He shook his head and chuckled as he walked over with a mischievous smile on his lips and a playful gleam in his eyes. When he reached the bedside, he knelt down and poked at the girl's face.

 

“Miss Akane, it's time to get up.” Marco said with a cheeky smile.

 

He continued to poke at her until she began to rouse from her slumber, grunting and swatting at the intrusive finger. The half-asleep girl merely turned her head to the other side and ignored the man kneeling next to her bed. At least Marco now knew she wasn't a morning person at all.

 

He smirked playfully as he brought a finger to the nape of the girl's neck. Marco slowly grazed his finger over the bumpy trail of her spine as he spoke in a sultry manner, “You know, Miss Akane, it isn't very decent for a young girl like you to be laying around naked on a ship. Especially a ship filled with men who are pirates, yoi.”

 

The muscles in her back tensed and though Marco couldn't see it, Akane's eyes shot wide open. He continued to watch as the girl's last bit of grogginess disappeared like throwing a bucket of ice water on a fire. The surprised girl was about to shoot out of bed to scold the intruder when she realized the state of her undress. A squeak died in her throat as she collapsed back onto the mattress in an attempt to cover herself.

 

Marco tried to suppress his laughter at the sight of the flustered girl frantically throwing the covers over her body whilst trying not to expose herself.

 

“Damn it Phoenix!” Now covered, the girl swung an arm at the man's face, but he caught it before she could do any damage.

 

He held her fist away from his head and chuckled, “Now now, don't blame me because you like sleeping naked yoi.”

 

“You sound like a perverted old man when you talk like- and isn't this supposedly _my_ room? Whatever happened to privacy? Or a lock?” The red-head said as she fumed underneath her blankets.

 

“This is a medical room. No locks. Now get dressed, Pops wants to talk to you apparently.” Marco stood up and let go of her fist. He watched amused as the girl threw the pillow over her face and groaned.

 

“No can do, yoi. Now get up and get dressed or...” In an attempt to fluster the girl enough for her to get out of bed, he crouched down and whispered in her ear, “I'll have to do it myself.”

 

“Touch me and die, old man.”

 

He wore a frown, “Old man? Ever since you and Ace had that lover's spat last night you've gotten pretty bold.”

 

Akane lifted her head from the pillow and turned enough to glare at him with one eye. “Would you guys stop calling it that? We just talked.” She turned away from him and let her upper body rest on the mattress again. The girl's voice dropped to a mumble, “And you can say I've just gotten comfortable.”

 

Her answer surprised him a bit and he sat down on the bed, and he could see the figure under the covers tense. “Comfortable?” He smiled, though he knew she couldn't see it.

 

“...yeah, I guess. Isn't that what you guys wanted anyway?” It was foreign even to her. When was the last time she had ever felt like this?

 

He pondered her question a bit before replying, “Well I don't know if it's what everyone 'wanted' per se, it does make it easier for all of us though, yoi. Plus, if you're comfortable, isn't that good for you too?”

 

There was a bit of silence before the girl replied, “Yeah, I guess so.” She looked up from her pillow to glance at Marco sitting on her bed twisting his torso to stare at her. “Now get out. I'm not gonna change with you just standing around here.”

 

“But I'm sitting.” He pointed out cheekily.

 

The girl's eye twitched as she slapped and pushed his chest so he would stumble off the bed. “Out.”

 

He got off the bed and headed for the door, grumbling under his breath, “I think I liked it better when you weren't comfortable.”

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing yoi. Just come down to the galley when you're done.”

* * *

A dozen minutes later, Akane- fully dressed in a black tank top and shorts she usually wore under Izou's present to her, entered the mess hall. Most of the pirates were already finished their meal, making conversation with each other.

 

The Marine girl made her way to the massive chair seating an equally massive man. Whitebeard sat silently as he watched over his many different sons enjoying themselves. He must have noticed the tiny girl from the corner of his eye because his attention moved to her. “There you are brat, I've been meaning to speak with you.”

 

The tone was lighthearted but Akane still felt a twinge of nervousness, “O-oh, okay.” She sat down on the wooden-boarded floor a few feet away from Whitebeard's chair.

 

“How do you feel about the Navy, girl?” The room began to fall silent as heads turned to observe the sticky conversation their captain was striking up.

 

Akane's mind drew a blank. It was far too early in the morning to be thinking such complex things. “Uh, well...” She absentmindedly scratched her knee as she tried to muster up an answer, “I think the idea behind the Navy is with good intentions, and there are people in the Navy that are pure-hearted, but...” She shifted around where she sat and furrowed her eyebrows, “the structure is made up of people. And no matter how good-willed something is, if people are involved, it'll never be like how it was in theory, I think.” She recalled the numerous stories that were passed around her ranks about marine captains and soldiers threatening and attacking entire villages, making deals and bribes with pirate crews, and hoarding treasures. She even experienced her fair share of injustice. Of course, the stories were buried immediately and never reached the public, but she knew and was well aware.

 

“You're wise for your age.”

 

“I'm not wise, I can just think subjectively.”

 

“If you are aware of this truth, why do you belong to the Navy?”

 

A headache was beginning to creep up on Akane. Why was Whitebeard grilling her with such intense questions so early in the day? What was his goal? “I'm...” She looked down at her lap to avoid his stare and the ones from the members of the crew all around her. There were even a pair of dark brown eyes on her from the doorway, but they went unnoticed by the girl. “I enrolled as a Marine when I was fifteen. I was just a young girl whose only desire at the time was to leave my island. So, that year I lied about my age and took the entry examination saying I was seventeen.” It helped that she was tall for her age too.

 

She looked up at Whitebeard and he saw a spark in her eyes as she continued to tell him about her entry to the Navy. She was avoiding his initial question but he would allow it.

 

Her fingers fiddled in her lap as she recalled the memories. “It's an intense physical and intellectual examination that takes place over the course of four months. It's not so much as an examination as it is training but they call it that because at the end we get ranked and some people fail it too. At the end of it, I was sure that I was one of the best there. I had to be ranked at least in the top twenty for sure.”

 

“And?”

 

She frowned and her voice lowered, “I was 47th.”

 

One of Whitebeard's eyebrows raised ever so slightly at the reveal.

 

“I was furious and frustrated to say the least. I worked hard and I knew, I saw, that I was better than many of the people ranked above me.” Her old anger began to reemerge as she continued to recount her story, “And you know, I was the only female ranked in the top hundred of that group. There were actually lots of woman that took the examination in my group, and a lot of them were amazing, exceptional in fact. But, they were ranked so low some of them were told to leave!” Akane took a breath as she tried to calm down from the frustrating past memories. “I was still young but I could see the blatant injustice of it, and the irony of it all infuriated me more. So, I revoked my enlistment before I was sworn in as an official soldier.”

 

“Revoked it?” But you returned afterward?”

 

“I revoked it because I had something to prove. I knew I was better than them and to prove it, I enrolled again, but this time as a male to see if I would test differently. I was sixteen by then- had my birthday during my first examination. I cut my hair and disguised myself, went by the name of Andy. I took the examination at the exact same level as I was doing it before, but when the rankings were in at the end... I came in 18th.” There was silence around her as the audience waited for her to continue, “I revealed who I was to the examiners and they were furious to say the least.” She smirked as she remembered the red faces of the men who she had tricked, “They said I could keep my ranking and that they would look past my underage enlistment as long as I wouldn't speak of what had happened to the higher ups, and I took their offer. Not long after that I was put under Vice Admiral Garp's wing as a student and I began to climb the ranks.”

 

“So why do you continue to be loyal to the Navy when they showed you injustice?”

 

Akane placed her palms on her cross-legged knees. “I'm in the Navy _because_ they showed me injustice. It was wrong. They speak of justice yet they didn't even give it to their own soldiers. I stayed because I wanted to prove something, to make a point and to change things.”

 

“And have things changed?”

 

Her eyebrow's knitted together, “No, not really. I mean, with individuals it has, I think. The people around me and my crew have a different mindset now... but the entire system hasn't changed a bit” Her eyes lowered, “I'm just one person after all.”

 

“Then why do you continue to try?”

 

Why did she? She spoke the words at the same time the realization dawned on her. Her words were quiet, like she was telling a secret, “Because what I'm loyal to isn't Sengoku or the Navy, what I'm loyal to is myself and my own ideals. I'm loyal to the ideas of rightful justice and freedom.” She fiddled with her heart pendent and in an effort to water down the proclamation she added on, “...I guess.”

 

“Gurarara, I see. An interesting brat you are.”

 

“Ur, is that... all then?” Most of the audience was already gone, attention shifted elsewhere as they began to exit the galley, and Whitebeard wasn't asking her anything else. His questions were a little random and he hadn't given her any context as to why he had asked them.

 

“It is. You're free to go, girlie.”

 

The red-head gave him a nod as she stood up and began to walk towards the doorway. She noticed a figure leaning against the large door frame, arms crossed.

 

“Ace? What are you still doing here?”

 

“I just came in a few minutes ago,” An almost childlike pout formed on his lips, “I missed breakfast didn't I.”

 

Akane scouted the room and the only people still left there were the both of them, Whitebeard, and Marco who at some point ended up beside his captain. She turned to look back at Ace and shrugged, “Guess so. I did too.”

 

She watched as Ace sighed while he pushed himself off the door frame and began to walk away from the galley. The girl caught up with him and began to walk in his pace.

 

“Why don't you just ask the chefs to make you food or something?”

 

“Can't. It _would_ be possible before breakfast cause they're already making the food but once the food is finished, the next group of chefs run in and start on lunch right away. I used to be able to ask them for food whenever I wanted but they know better than to do that now.” Ace placed his hands behind his head and he turned to grin at her.

 

Akane squinted as she studied him, “Do I even want to know?”

 

“Probably not.”

* * *

“Pops, what do you think yoi?”

 

Marco and Whitebeard were the two lone figures in the galley aside from the cooks behind the kitchen doors on the other side of the room. The first mate stood beside his captain questioningly as he waited for an answer.

 

“I think she's a wise brat.” Whitebeard went over what the young Marine girl had told him. She definitely had a good head on her shoulders for her age, she had her own ideals and stood by them even when part of the Navy.

 

“But why ask questions like those?” Marco's eyebrows raised a bit, “Does it have to do with that Marine vessel we saw last night?”

 

Whitebeard closed his eyes and nodded, “It does. There's going to be a confrontation soon in the future and we have to be careful. The Navy is being far less reckless than usual which brings me to believe they are just as suspecting of her origins as I.” He stood up from his chair and began to walk side by side with his son as they exited the galley. “It's not the fight we should be worried about, it's how we handle the girl. It needs to be that she won't want to return to the Navy on her own accord.”

 

Marco began to tie loose ends together, “So we needed to know if she was loyal to the Navy or not yoi.”

 

“Gurarara, you've caught on by now haven't you boy?”

* * *

Akainu was sitting in his given office of a warship. It was early morning and he was reading paperwork while drinking his hot, black coffee. The transponder snail on the desk began to ring as it received an incoming call.

 

Akainu picked up the snail and answered it, “Admiral Akainu. Speaking.”

 

“Admiral sir, in the very early hours of this morning the Whitebeard Pirates' ship the Moby Dick was spotted. We analyzed and checked the direction in which they are headed. If they continue on the route they are on, they should reach the island of Helios in a bit over a week and a half. They'll hit the west side of the island first, that side of the island is called Hesperides.”

 

“Good. That's all. You're dismissed of your mission.”

 

“Thank you Admiral, sir!”

 

Akainu hung up the call and placed the transponder snail on the far corner of the desk. He shuffled the paperwork on his desk off to the sides to reveal a large map of part of the New World. It wasn't too detailed, but it would suffice. He dragged his finger along the carved wood as he looked for the island of Helios.

 

He had been on the island once before. It was an island with a warm climate and rich vegetation with many villages splayed out over its surface, and it was generally larger than the average island.

 

Akainu spotted Helios on the map and tapped on an island that was shaped like a perfect circle. The west side of the island was labeled Hesperides and the east side was Proenos. Cutting through the center of the island like the equator does the planet, was a river named Okeanos.

 

Akainu downed the rest of his coffee and strode out of the office. Arriving on deck, everyone on the ship saluted him and waited for orders.

 

“Change course for the island of Helios. We need to reach the island in a bit over a week so we can't have any delays. Head for the east side, we'll dock there.” He clasped his hands behind his back as he continued, “I'll inform Admiral Kizaru's ship about the update. Return to your duties.”

 

The scowling Admiral walked to the figurehead of the ship and stood behind it. Three weeks. That brat would be with those pirates for a total of three weeks. There was no telling how much of his and all the other high ranking officers hard work on the girl would be corrupted in the short time frame.

 

He closed his eyes as he began to create a strategy in his mind, an ominous smile on his lips.

* * *

The days melted together and her time with the Whitebeard Pirates went by like a blur. Before she knew it, it was the night before they would hit the island Helios. The crowd on deck was unusually rowdy and excited, even men of the sea needed some time on land to break the stagnancy of their environment.

 

Akane watched the celebration from afar where she sat on the figurehead and smiled. As much as she wished it weren't true, she had grown fond of most of the pirates on the crew. Of course, there were those like Teach who she avoided as much as possible and stayed away from. Even the thought of him made her face scrunch up in dislike. But there were others that she had grown to like. People like the nurses, the chefs, the musicians, Vista, Izou, Thatch, Marco, Ace... even Whitebeard himself had proven to be not as ferocious and menacing as the stories all tell. When she first made her resolve on the ship, she had told herself to put up an act and try to get along as best as she could with the pirates... but at some point she stopped acting. She was herself. The self she hadn't known for years since before the attack of her island had left her angry and lonely. The girl who didn't have to worry about responsibility or the lives of others or completing missions or enforcing justice. The one who only desired for adventure and didn't need to worry about anything else. But now that the ship was creeping up to its destination, her worries were returning.

 

Tomorrow they would dock at Helios and she was sure enough they would let her go alive. That's not what she was worried about. In fact, she wasn't sure if what she was feeling was worry at all. Her chest felt heavy and her limbs felt weak. The only time she had felt like this before was the first few days after her mother died and her village was in shambles. The feeling she held now wasn't as intense, but it felt similar in variety. She wanted it to go away.

 

“Hahaa, there you are Red! 'been lookin all over fer'ya.”

 

Akane looked up in surprise as Ace walked towards her and sat down next to her, wearing a stupid, lopsided grin. She smiled at the tipsy pirate. Ace was one of the first Whitebeard Pirates she had met and without a doubt their relationship changed a lot since they first ran into each other. They went from trying to kill one another to becoming pretty good friends over the course of three short weeks. She had honestly never felt this comfortable with someone since her time with her mother, and she found that she really liked being in his company now. Besides, he would always somehow show up in front of her, so it just happened that she had spent a lot of time with him.

 

“Ace.” She said in acknowledgment. “Why aren't you at the party?”

 

The tipsy pirate gave her a glare that held no substance. “'ve been there the 'ntire night. Besides,” He held up a finger and poked the girl's shoulder, “you never join anyway, always sittin' here alone.”

 

Akane let out a soft chuckle, “And why should I? I don't belong there.”

 

“You do.”

 

She looked over at the pirate who held a serious stare, and looked down to avoid his gaze, “I don't.” She uncrossed her legs and stood up, the wind blowing past her face. She tucked stray strands of red hair behind her ear, “You celebrate together because you're family. I'm not.”

 

Ace craned his head up at her and wore an unusually sympathetic frown,“You don't think tha's true do you? Then what 'ave you been doing for the past couple weeks?”

 

Akane looked out at the water the Moby Dick was slowly cutting through. Her voice came out a lot more weak then she intended it to, “I don't know.”

 

“I do.” He stumbled around until Ace stood up next to the girl. He turned her around and took one of her smaller hands in each of his larger ones. Ace leaned down to smile and look into her disheartened eyes, “S'cause I'm a lot like you.”

 

Akane broke their gaze and turned her head away from him, “We're nothing alike, you must be more drunk than I thought.”

 

Ace frowned, “'m not as drunk as'you think I am.” His face perked up when he heard the distant sounds of guitars and violins starting to play a new song. The grown man grinned like a boy as he began to spin around with the girl in tow.

 

The girl groaned, “And what are you doing now?”

 

“Shh Jus' shutup 'n listen to the music!” He chuckled lightheartedly while leading the girl around the happy dance.

 

“Okay, you're not just drunk, you're totally smashed.” The only response she got was a loud laugh. “Just don't throw up on me or I'll kill you.”

 

He let go of one of her hands and used it to wave away what she said. “I won't.” Instead of holding her hand again, he wrapped his arm around her waist and began to lead the dance again. “'m jus bringing the party t' you.”

 

“Y'know, I think I like you better when you're sober.” This was a weird, too-happy, too-nice side of Ace she was not yet prepared to witness.

 

Ace smiled down cheekily at her, “Hahah, you love me.”

 

Akane let out a joking laugh, “Love you? Starting tomorrow I'll never have to deal with you again.”

 

Ace stopped dancing and frowned. The lighthearted atmosphere was gone and the pair was quiet, the background noise the only thing filling in the silence between them.

 

Ace let go of her hand but the grip on her waist tightened, “So you're really goin' to go tomorrow?”

 

Out of all the times for him to act sober, he chose now? “What were you expecting...?” She found it hard to hold his gaze, “Don't get me wrong, it was fun being with you guys but I'm still part of the Navy and have a crew...” Her voice quieted as she added on, “They deserve to know I'm alive at least.”

 

“Then we'll tell 'em you're alive.” He used the arm wrapped around Akane to pull her in closer, “Give me one actual reason for you to leave.”

 

Akane chuckled as she pushed herself off the man's chest, “Why should I? Give me one actual reason I should stay then.”

 

Warm lips pressed to hers before she could register it. The arm around her waist wrapped tighter and she felt a warm palm hold her cheek. Her shock melted away and before she knew what she was doing, she slowly closed her eyes, returning the kiss. She responded to him tilting her head and hesitantly placing one of her hands on his bare chest while the other became lost in those dark brown wavy locks of his. She felt him trying to deepen the kiss and she was too far gone until she tasted the alcohol on his mouth.

 

Akane jerked back from him and began to catch her breath. Ace pressed his forehead to hers and was eye-level with her. His voice was a whisper only she could hear, “You belong here.”

 

Why had he kissed her? Why had she kissed him _back_? Did she hold feelings for him that way? Where did this all come from? A wave of mixed emotions she couldn't describe swelled in her chest from the words he whispered and she felt like crying for reasons God knows why. What he said would hold sentiment to her if his breath didn't smell so strongly of alcohol when he spoke it, as would the kiss have. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, trying to control the trembling of her voice,

 

“You damn drunkard.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please remember to like and comment if you enjoyed the chapter, thanks!
> 
> *Note that this was originally posted on ff and I have brought it over here.


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